Bubbles and Butterflies
by Ladybug07
Summary: AU Snickers and Grillows cowrite with bauerfreak. Catherine and Gil want to adopt a troubled girl, and Nick and Sara invite their tempermental niece into their lives.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

Gil and Catherine Grissom of the Las Vegas Crime Lab were seated at their kitchen table going through documents of children who were available to adopt.

"Gil, I really want to adopt a child who needs help. One who most people wouldn't want to adopt." Catherine sighed sifting through the paperwork. This was not a decision they were taking lightly. They were keeping the process very hush-hush, as they had another child in the house. Lindsey Grissom was up in her room at the moment, supposedly doing her homework, while her parents had the serious discussion that could possibly alter her life dramatically.

"But Cath, we already have a 16 year old daughter. Do you really want to introduce a needy child into our lives? How would it affect Lindsey?" They'd already discussed the possibility of adopting at length, but had only recently seriously started to look into it. Their finances would allow it, but they greatly worried about Lindsey's reaction.

"Gil, I really want to do this. I feel we should adopt. I want to give love to another child." Catherine sighed. "This is the last one in this batch. You look at this one and tell me what you think." Catherine handed him the folder.

Gil squinted his eyes, his orbs tired after reading through so many files. These were the children your heart went out to; the kids that needed so much to be loved, but that many were too afraid to let into their lives. Catherine had always been the more empathetic one of the pair. Gil was known for not having a personal life; at least until he married Catherine and became a father to Lindsey. Gil read the file carefully. A four year old girl named Emily. Her mother had died in a tragic car accident when she was just a baby, and her father was now nowhere to be found. He smirked when he looked at the file photo - it looked like she was about to laugh at something. She seemed so loving, but with a file like hers - posttraumatic stress disorder, painfully shy, anxious - Gil wasn't sure if he could love a child who might not love him back. Gil was about to close the case file again, sure that he just couldn't handle going through those sort of emotions.

As he was about to plop it onto the table, though, he stopped. The seasoned CSI gazed again at the picture. He couldn't help but think of all the other children he'd been exposed to over the years; the Brenda's; the Cassie's. And he couldn't help but think...is this what those children need? They just need someone to love them. The little girl's bright blue eyes caught his, and he was done for. She was reaching out to him, and he just couldn't let her hand go.

"Catherine, she's adorable. There's something about her..." Gil said trailing off. "Maybe it's time to finally talk to Lindsey?" Catherine asked. Gil nodded and handed the file to Catherine. "She needs parents who will live her unconditionally, and I think we could be the family to give that to her."

Gil sighed softly. Catherine felt her heart flutter now that her husband was finally understanding. They saw the worst of the worst every day at their jobs, and this was finally their chance to really help make an innocent child's life better again. All too often, they had to leave these children they recovered in the hands of Child Protective Services. But now, they could really help. They could love this child.

"What do you think Lindsey will say?" Catherine wondered.

"I'm not sure, but she needs to know. This has to be okay with her too, Cath. We can't do this without her support." Catherine nodded, "Do you want to go try talking to her now since she is home, and was in a relatively good mood when she got home?" "Let's go upstairs and show her the file and hear what she thinks." Gil kissed Catherine's forehead, putting his hand at the small of her back, wordlessly communicating his agreement. Together, they climbed the stairs to their daughter's bedroom.

Life in the Grissom family hadn't always been this nice. Catherine and Gil had finally gotten together, but had struggled with Lindsey. She hadn't been too happy to find out her mother had started to date after her father's horrible murder, but she was starting to ease up.

They knocked on the closed door, the sound of soft music emanating from within. The parents thought they heard a faint hello, so they proceeded. Catherine and Gil walked in to see Lindsey sitting at her desk working on trigonometry homework and listening to her iPod. Catherine walked over to her and picked one of the ear pieces out of her ear. "Honey we need to talk to you about something serious."

She wasn't always happy these days when her parents came in to see her. Lindsey knew she could be a bit of a drama queen sometimes. She felt she had a right to be with all the crazy stuff that had gone on in her life. First, her parents got divorced; then her father was killed; and then Gil came into her life. Lindsey liked Gil, but there is never anyone quite like your real dad. The girl constantly compared what Gil did with what she thought her father would do or say. She wondered how he would react if he were here. Would she be a better person for it? Lindsey sighed and swiveled in her chair.

"What's going on?" Catherine sighed and took Lindsey's hand into hers. "Are you sick?" Lindsey asked hurriedly.

"No, no nothing like that honey." Catherine replied reassuredly. "Gil and I have thought this through long and hard. You know how much we love having you as a daughter, and we want to share that love even more. We have been thinking about adopting. We've been looking for the perfect child and we found her."

Catherine moved from where she was sitting on the bed to kneeling on the floor in front of Lindsey.

"We want to adopt this little girl named Emily, who has been in a really bad place and who hasn't had parents to love her and care for her. We won't adopt her without your support though because you're part of this family too."

"We really want you to talk to us about this Linds. Here is her file if you want to know more about her." Gil said motioning to the file.

Lindsey didn't know quite what to think. She thought that maybe they were going to talk to her about how she'd been slacking on her chores, but adopting a kid? Where had that come from? She eyed her parents suspiciously, and tentatively took the file from Gil's hand. She opened it up and read quickly over the little girl's file. She looked nice enough, but when she read the description with all the problems she had, her stomach flip flopped a little. Just how much help would this child need? Did they expect her to roll over and be her babysitter? What would happen to her life? Lindsey felt a little offended that they'd seemingly been talking about this for some time without her knowledge, and they're just springing this on her. She glanced between her parents, questions filling her eyes, and they could tell they still had some explaining to do.

"Wh...what...what do you want me to say?"

"Well sweet pea, you can ask us anything you want." Gil answered rubbing Lindsey's arm affectionately from where he sat on her bed.

"Is there anything you want to ask us?" Catherine asked.

"Okay...just...why?" She started, gesturing confusedly. Their eyes were concerned and caring, and she knew it was safe to share what she was feeling. "She has all these problems. Why would you want to deal with that?"

Catherine sighed, "We've seen so many bad events happen at work Lindsey, and we can't do anything about the children who end up with Child's Services. We can't help them. We can help her though. Yes, she does have problems, but she also needs love, and I think this family could give that to her." Catherine answered. Gil nodded expressing his agreement with Catherine.

"Well, what about me? Am I just supposed to throw my life into helping her too? I'm a junior now, and I'm sorry, but my friends are really important to me. If you adopt this kid, none of my friends will probably want to come over, and there is no way I am babysitting some heathen."

Catherine bit her tongue from responding to Lindsey's statement. Gil answered for her.

"We understand that you are a junior in high school. We understand your friends are important. If your friends don't want to come over here then go over there. We understand you don't want to baby-sit all the time, but I will not tolerate you referring to her as a heathen because you haven't even met her yet. Don't judge her yet." Gil replied firmly.

Catherine's heart broke when she saw her daughter's eyes start to well up at the accusation. She didn't tolerate any type of discipline from Gil, even if it was just a firm tell-off. Lindsey's blood was seething at the realization that they'd already made this decision. They were going to adopt this girl, no matter what she said.

"So you're defending her above me, and you don't even know her?" Lindsey spoke harshly, and felt her breath quicken. "You don't care what I think! Why don't you just tell me you're going to adopt her, because it sounds like you are going to anyway!" "Lindsey, take a deep breath." Catherine said sighing. "We aren't defending her above you and we do care what you think. However, can you try thinking about this from her point of you for just a moment?"

Lindsey started crying, and her mother leaned forward to take her into a hug. She knew this would be hard for her daughter to hear. She'd been an only child for sixteen years, and all of a sudden this was coming down on her. But Catherine truly felt that this was the right thing to do. This child had called to her. It may be hard at the beginning for them all, especially Lindsey, but she felt in her heart this was right.

"Why do things have to change? Can't you wait until I'm out of college at least?" "Sweetheart, we don't know where she could be in two years. We feel that this is the right time. This way you can establish a relationship with her before you go to college. Yes, things will change, but hopefully for the better." Gil replied softly leaning over so that he could meet Lindsey's eyes from where her head was leaning on her mother's shoulder.

"So that's it?" Lindsey almost whispered, taking in her mother's scent and the sight of Gil's face. They wanted so badly for her to understand. Lindsey saw their point, but that didn't mean she was happy about her life getting turned upside down. "We're adopting her." She hoped that speaking the words would help the hard realization sink in.

"Sweetheart, we'd really like your approval." Catherine reiterated. Lindsey sighed and pulled away from her mother, rubbing her hands over her face.

"Fine, let's adopt her. Just don't expect to baby-sit all the time please. I finally have a life."

Catherine pulled back from her daughter, and Lindsey could instantly see relief in her mother's face, and in Gil's. This sure was making them happy, and they hadn't even little the little horror...er...girl into their lives yet. Lindsey allowed herself a small smile. She was going to be a big sister. Normally, she would have nine months to prepare for this, but in this case, probably only a few short weeks or days. Her mind started racing at how much her life had changed in just ten short minutes.

"Thank you, Lindsey." Gil told her. "You have no idea how much this means to us. I really think this is going to make us a stronger family, and we're really going to help this girl."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

Nick Stokes practically dove around the counter top when he saw what his niece was doing. At two years old, Nick and Sara were practically falling over themselves trying to get her to not kill herself. It seemed she wanted to get something in her eye; she wanted to fall off tall surfaces; she wanted to get hurt. Currently, the little angel was standing on the kitchen table. Apparently, she was done with her lunch.

"Ava Sidle, sit back in your booster chair." Nick told her firmly but gently. Ava just looked at him, as if challenging why he thought he knew so much. After not moving for a few seconds, Nick picked her up and set her back in the chair. "That's dangerous, Ava. Don't do that again."

Nick sighed sadly as he remembered what brought Ava Sidle to live with him and his wife Sara. They had been at work when Sara had gotten a phone call. It had been a hospital in San Francisco calling to tell Sara that her brother and sister-in-law had been in a horrible car accident. Ava had not been in the car with them at the time of the accident so they had left behind a beautiful girl at the age of two. Sara apparently was her sole guardian. Nick and Sara had flown to San Francisco to pick up Ava and bring her back to Las Vegas. That had just been about two months ago. Nick and Sara both immediately fell in love with the little girl, though neither knew her very well since she'd lived so far away. Ava was precocious and curious like any two year old, wanting to explore the world around. She didn't seem to be quite sure who Nick and Sara were supposed to be yet. Her parents were still fresh in her mind, and she often asked where they were. Not wanting to confuse her, Nick and Sara would always patiently explain that mommy and daddy were in heaven now, and they wouldn't be coming back. But they were going to take care of her now.

Nick was brought out of his remembrance at the sound of the front door opening and closing. Ava heard it too and jumped from her booster seat and ran to the front door. "Sawa!" The little girl greeted her aunt, who was just bringing in groceries. Sara's heart warmed each time she was greeted by the relatively happy toddler. Nick managed to take the bags from her hands before Ava crashed into her waiting arms.

"Hey, baby girl!" Sara hugged her warmly and planted kisses on her chubby cheeks. "I missed you!"

Ava placed a wet kiss on Sara's cheek and replied, "I missed you too!"

Sara walked further into the house with Ava in her arms. "Were you good for Uncle Nicky while I was gone?" She asked, her eyebrows going up in question. Ava's face dropped a tiny bit, looking like she'd been caught. She looked back at Nick, who smirked a little bit. Well, he supposed she behaved as any two year old did, but that didn't mean she was WELL-behaved.

"Well, Ava needs to remember not to get up when she's eating. But she was a pretty good girl." Nick reported. Sara looked at the girl questioningly. She looked ashamed, which she supposed was good enough. Sara and Nick had to learn fast how to handle a toddler. It had been trying, but they loved her to pieces.

Sara put Ava down so that she could greet Nick with a kiss and help him with the groceries.

"I'm glad she wasn't too much trouble." Sara said smiling in Nick's arms. Nick kissed her and held her for a few moments before releasing her to go into the kitchen to put away groceries. Ava followed them into the kitchen and began looking through the bags.

"Candy?" Ava asked hopefully.

"No candy, Ava. Remember the rules. Candy is only on Saturdays." Sara told her calmly, and prepared herself for a rebuttal.

"It's Saturday! Candy!" Ava yelled. "Wan' candy!"

"Voice, Ava." Nick reminded her softly. Ava liked to screech, that was for sure. "It's Friday today, so no candy."

"Don' care! I wan candy!" She protested. With her real parents, if she threw a big enough fit, she would always get what she wanted.

"Time-out Ava?" Sara asked sternly folding her arms mimicking Ava's stance.

"No time- out!" Ava yelled and stomped her foot.

"Then I suggest you stop throwing your fit." Sara suggested. Ava decided to sit down right there in the middle of the kitchen to pout. Nick and Sara were trying out ignoring her when she threw fits. They moved to put the groceries away, skillfully avoiding Ava at her spot on the floor. Sara laughed silently as she passed her husband with a stalk of broccoli in her hand.

After a few minutes of sitting on the floor, Ava grew restless and decided to get up and go back to exploring the kitchen. She noticed that Sara and Nick were talking and weren't really paying attention to her. Ava got up and starting opening cabinets and pulling items out. Their temporary solace was short-lived when Ava started her antics again. They looked at each other and sighed, as Tupperware, pots, and pans came crashing to the floor.

"That's it, Ava." Nick said firmly. He picked up the toddler in his arms, who started fidgeting and pushing at him, and started walking towards her bedroom. "You're getting a time-out." Ava started crying as Nick placed her on her bed.

"Five minutes of sitting on your bed, Ava Sidle. You don't move until Sara or I come get you. Understand?" Nick said firmly crossing his arms.

"You mean!" Ava yelled crying. She attempted to hit Nick with a stuff animal, but being two year's old the stuffed zebra didn't go very far.

Nick ignored her deviance and shut the door, her muffled cries readily apparent to his ears. This parenting thing was harder than he thought it would be. He sighed heavily and ran a hand over his face as he made his way back into the kitchen, where his wife was finishing putting the groceries away. When he entered, she pulled him into an embrace, and the two just held each other for a few moments. After rubbing her back soothingly, Nick became aware that Sara was crying.

"Sweetheart, why are you crying?" Nick asked softly tightening his hold on her and continuing to rub her back.

"It's just… I love Ava so much, but she wears me out so bad, Nick. I don't think I'm doing any of this right. I mean, she's off the wall all the time. Is this normal?"

"Baby, she's two years old. I'd be a bit concerned if she wasn't off the walls most of the time. This will pass, trust me. You're doing a great job raising that little girl and she loves you a lot." Nick answered.

"Then why do I get the feeling she hates me?"

"Sara, she just lost her parents. She doesn't want anyone but them, and we're treading on her territory here." Sara sighed and pulled away from Nick gently. "I know she just lost her parents, but I feel as though we're never going to be able to live up to her expectations of her parents."

"Well, I don't know if she has expectations, Sara. I mean, I don't want to speak ill of the dead, but they weren't doing that great of a job. Your mom said they didn't pay that much attention to her, and let her do whatever she wanted. She might not like the fact we're controlling her so strictly now, but she'll be happier in the long run if we don't let her get away with this stuff."

Sara nodded. "I know you're right." She gave him a half smile.

"How about we go get our little terror from time-out and have her pick up this mess?" Nick asked smirking.

Their thoughts were interrupted by the phone ringing. Nick told Sara that he'd get the phone while Sara went to go get Ava. As Sara approached her niece's room, she could hear sniffling coming from within. She took a deep breath, not sure what kind of kid would present itself on the other side - sometimes she was remorseful, and other times she was downright resentful and mean.

Sara knocked on the door, "Can I come in sweetheart?"

Ava looked up at her door from inside her bedroom. "Yeah..." Ava answered back softly.

Sara had to strain to hear her, but went in anyway. Sara was somewhat relieved to see fresh tears on Ava's face, and she was rubbing her eyes. She looked relieved - perhaps that she got that little piece of anger out, and felt better. Sara hoped that she felt safe knowing that her new parents weren't going to let her spiral out of control. Sara pulled the little girl onto her lap, and Ava rested her head on her aunt's chest.

"You feel better now? Hmm?" Sara asked smoothing down Ava's hair gently.

Ava nodded, "I'm sowwy I made noise an' yelled fo' candy."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that, Ava." Sara agreed softly, elated that Ava was actually remorseful and even understood why what she did was wrong. The first few weeks, Ava would look so confused when she was reprimanded for throwing fits and yelling. It was what she knew before this, and she was slowly learning life didn't work that way. "Nick and I don't like it when you scream."

Ava nodded and didn't respond back, but instead started to fiddle with Sara's wedding ring. Sara smiled softly knowing that one more fit had been conquered, and hopefully it would be the last one for the rest of the day.

"Are you ready to be a good girl?" Sara questioned her, allowing the small child to tinkle with the ring. As long as she didn't try to take it off, everything would be alright.

"I think." Ava said, unsure. She wasn't quite sure what being a good girl meant.

"Are you going to listen to Nick and me, and not throw fits to get what you want?" Sara elaborated.

"Yes." She looked up at Sara.

"Good. Then let's go clean up that mess you made."

Ava sighed and got off Sara's lap. Sara stood up and offered her hand to Ava and Ava grabbed it tightly and followed Sara out of her room. They went into the kitchen and saw Nick was outside talking on the phone still. Sara figured it had to do with work, and he didn't want Ava to hear what was going on.

"Okay sweetheart, since you made this mess you're going to clean it up okay?" Sara said firmly yet gently. Surprisingly, Ava got right down to business and started picking up the items she'd thrown on the floor. Sara knew she'd probably have to rearrange it herself later, but Ava was learning the principle of the lesson - there are natural consequences to behavior. If you make a mess, you pick it up. Glancing outside, Sara could tell that Nick was puzzled. It didn't look like he was listening to bad news, just something very surprising. Sara saw Nick say a few more words then hung up the phone. He stared at it for a few moments, then started to walk slowly into the house.

When he got into the house Sara looked up at him and asked, "Work?"

"Sort of." He reported, scratching the back of his head. "That was Catherine. Ummm...I guess you don't hear this every day. But they just told me they're adopting a kid."

Sara's face showed an odd display of reaction. Shocked could describe it. Confused. Maybe thinking they were a little psycho. "What!"

"Yeah, that was my first response. Apparently they have seen too many children get handed over to Child Services and they want to help one of them. The one they want to adopt is four years old and let's just say she comes with a lot of problems. Apparently they really want to do this." Nick explained.

For once in her life, Sara Sidle was speechless. They'd just been through a huge ordeal getting custody of Ava. The Grissom's had seen how complicated it had been, and now they were going to try to adopt? She supposed she should've seen it coming; the way Catherine's heart would go out to all the child victims.

"I..." She stumbled. "Okay..."

"They wanted to know if Lindsey could come by here in about an hour because they are going to go meet with Emily and her social worker to discuss the adoption. They don't want to take Lindsey yet."

"She's sixteen. She can't take care of herself?" Sara questioned. She glanced down at Ava, who had since gotten bored, and started playing with the pots.

"Sar, you know how Lindsey is anyway." Nick reminded her. Lindsey was a good kid, but she'd been known to invite people over without permission when her parents were gone. "Plus, she might feel weird about the adoption, and I don't think they want her to be alone."

Sara shrugged, "That's fine, she can come over. Maybe she can help distract Ava from playing with pots." Sara sighed and bent down to extract a pot from Ava and swiftly picked Ava up from the floor and brought up into her arms. Ava let out a sound as if she were highly upset that the pot had been extracted from her hands, but Sara stopped her.

"Ava, remember what we just talked about. You need to listen to me and Nick." The two year old looked sad, but stopped protesting. "Do you want to go see Nick?" Sara glanced at her husband, and then back at Ava. Ava nodded and Sara gave her to Nick who took her into his arms.

Ava sighed contentedly and cuddled up to Nick's chest. She looked out the window from where she was. She looked at the swimming pool and looked up at Nick.

"Swim pwease?" Nick glanced at the clock. It was about four thirty in the afternoon. He didn't see why not. Plus, it would burn off some of her endless energy. "Okay, Peanut." He agreed, kissing her forehead sweetly and tickling her tummy. The little girl celebrated gleefully as Nick set her on the floor.

"Go find your bathing suit, and Sara will help you put it on."

"Are you going swimming with her?" Sara asked grinning.

Nick rolled his eyes, and answered, "Well of course I am." He gave her a quick kiss and went off to their bedroom to find his swimming trunks. Ava tugged on Sara's hand to come with her to her bedroom to find her bathing suit.

Ten minutes and a lot of mindless chatter and wandering around later, Ava was dressed in her light blue bathing suit, with three little fishies on the front. She had lovingly named them Nicky, Sawa, and Windsey the first time she'd worn it. Sara handed her off to Nick and reminded him to put lotion on her and himself, and then decided to finish picking up Ava's mess.

Once Sara finished picking up Ava's mess, she looked at the clock. Seeing that she had enough time to swim, she went into her bedroom and changed into her two piece. When she went into the backyard, Ava squealed happily as she saw that Sara was going to come in the pool. Nick had his goggles on - ones that covered half his face, and he looked ridiculous. Well, except for the fact that his gorgeous bod more than made up for it. He lifted the object up and rested it on his head as he watched his wife apply lotion to her body. Ava was happily paddling in the shallow end with her floaty arm bands on, so Nick pushed himself out of the water and walked over to Sara.

"Let me help you with that." He smiled. Sara laughed at his dripping form.

"Nick, you're soaked. It will all just come off." She reminded him. Nick laughed and grabbed the bottle from her and put some in his hands and started to put some on her back.

"Isn't this nice Sara? A nice family afternoon, no screaming?"

Sara nodded happily. "Yes, it really is."

Just then, a loud screech erupted from the pool. Their heads shot over to Ava, who was trying in vain to swat away a big bee.

"Bee! Bee!" She screamed, about in tears.

Nick wiped his hands on his wife, causing her to laugh, and dove in to the water. He skillfully splashed water at the bee, causing it to buzz away. Ava looked at Nick like he was her hero, and giggled. Nick grabbed his niece, lifting her out of the water and holding her above his head.

"That mean bee! Trying to bite my Ava!"

Ava cackled. "Nick, throw me!" She requested.

Nick smirked and lightly threw her in the water. Ava giggled happily.

"Sawa! Come in water!" Ava yelled to Sara who was just standing by the edge of the pool. Sara smiled and discreetly slipped into the water, approaching Nick. He immediately held her arms and spun her around so he blocked Sara from Ava's view.

"Oooh...there's two more B's in the pool now." He joked, grabbing at her bathing suit top. Sara looked slightly offended, and splashed Nick right in the face. He splashed back, and then easily overpowered her, dunking her under the water. Thankfully Ava hadn't seen. She was too busy trying to follow the butterfly which had been flying above her head for some time now. Once Sara had resurfaced she swam to Ava and started to tickle her.

Nick hovered next to his wife, putting his hands on her hips and rubbing with his thumbs affectionately. Sara never tired of Nick's tender touch, and couldn't help but think things were perfect in this moment. Playing in the pool with her husband and their new little girl. Ava was really their daughter now, though she still referred to them as aunt and uncle.

Their playing and giggling was interrupted by a young female clearing her throat at the edge of the pool, standing in front of her parents.

Ava looked up and yelled,"Windsey!"

Lindsey smiled at Ava and waved from where she stood.

"Hey guys." Nick said from the pool. He swam over to the steps and pulled himself out of the pool. Lindsey looked away as Nick emerged from the pool. She'd had a secret crush on him for years and could feel her face blushing. Luckily, it was hot out, so she could dismiss it.

"Thanks so much for taking her for a while." Catherine told him. "She loves playing with Ava, so I'm sure she'll be no trouble." She said, tugging playfully at her daughter's ear, as if reminding her to be well-behaved.

"It's no problem Cath. Lindsey never gives us trouble when she's here." Sara said smiling from where she was in the pool.

"We'll be back in about an hour or so." Gil said as he and Catherine said their goodbyes to the family.

"Did you bring your suit?" Nick asked, and playfully squeezed some of the water from his trunks onto her foot. Lindsey giggled and squirmed to move away.

"Do I ever not bring my swim suit to your house?" Lindsey asked smirking. "It's in my bag."

"Well go change!" Nick said pushing to the sliding doors.

"Windsey! Come swim!" Ava yelled from her place in the pool.

"In a minute, Ava. I'm gonna change." Lindsey disappeared inside to change, hearing the sounds of a seemingly happy family seep inside. She wondered if her little sister would be anything like Ava. She knew Ava had some problems, since her parents had died and apparently they were awful anyway. But most of the time when she was over, Ava was pretty well behaved. She'd been sent to her room once, but the toddler hadn't done anything terribly awful. Would her little sister be a terror? Lindsey sighed and decided she wouldn't dwell on it any more today. She was just going to enjoy herself at her 'aunt' and 'uncles' house today. Lindsey changed quickly and went outside to join in on the fun.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

**A/N: We don't claim to know everything about child adoption. We just thought these were questions they may ask, and procedures that would happen, so don't sue us. We hope you enjoy!**

Catherine and Gil held each other's hands tightly as they waited outside Emily's social worker's office. The little girl was currently at her foster home across town. The social worker, Joyce Westenburg, let the family know that she'd be talking to a couple today about possibly adopting, so they knew there was a change the little girl would be leaving them very soon.

"I'm so nervous, Gil." Catherine admitted, looking at her husband, appearing decidedly unbrave.

"It'll be okay, sweetheart. This is the right thing. Remember, though, she's not going to be like every other child. She may not react well to us at first, but she'll adapt soon enough." Gil said rubbing his hand up and down Catherine's arm soothingly.

The door opened, and an older, experienced-looking woman peeked her head out.

"Mr. and Mrs. Grissom?"

"Yes, that's us." Gil confirmed.

"I'm ready to see you now."

The couple stood, knowing their lives could possibly change forever during their stay in this room. They were going to adopt this little girl, and they were going to love her so much. If this woman thought they were fit.

"So, you're interested in adopting Emily Parker. She really is a wonderful little girl, but I need to tell you about her history a little first. Then when we're done, I'll have you tell me a little about your life as a couple, and as parents to your other daughter."

Grissom gripped Catherine's hand as the social worker began to speak.

"Emily's mother died in a horrible accident when Emily was just a baby. Her father skipped town and left the baby with his elderly parents, and they were too frail to take care of her. It was very hard for them to give her up because Emily has no other living family. Emily has gotten bounced back and forth from foster home to foster home. She has post traumatic stress syndrome, separation anxiety; she's skittish and afraid. However, besides, that she is a beautiful child. Very curious and very loving. She is going to require help for her issues, which is why most couples don't want to adopt her." Joyce said shaking her head sadly.

Catherine felt her heart melt even more at the history of Emily. She sounded like the kind of child that was so lovable, and just needed someone to pull her out of the mess she was currently in. Catherine pictured Emily as this scared, frightened little girl who just needed to be loved. If she hadn't been certain before, Catherine was steeled in her decision that this was the child they were supposed to adopt.

"Well, ma'am, I am confident that my husband and I are more than capable and more than willing to take in such a child. We've created a loving, safe home for our sixteen year old daughter, and I'm certain that Emily would fit in and be so happy."

She nodded her head and asked, "Mr. and Mrs. Grissom, tell me about your home and its atmosphere and some background on your family. Also, how does your other daughter feel about the adoption?"

Gil started, "Well, we are both criminalists with the Las Vegas Crime Lab, and we've been able to set up home in a good, safe neighborhood in the suburbs. The kids in our neighborhood are safe, and the families are all great and supportive of each other."

"And, I think I read that you two have been married for three years? So, you're not Lindsey's father?"

"No, ma'am. Her father died a few years ago, and Catherine and I married three years ago."

"How does Lindsey feel about the adoption?" The social worker asked leaning forward in her seat.

Catherine sighed and said, "Well, to be honest, she was hesitant at first, but she's warming up to the idea. She told us last night that she gives us her support for this."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. How has she dealt with her father's death, and has that affected the way you raise her?"

Gil looked at Catherine, knowing it had been a trying time for the young girl. Truthfully, it had been very hard since Eddie's death. Lindsey sometimes went off the wall, but it wasn't anything they thought they couldn't handle.

"She's had a bit of a hard time. Before we moved her to Butterfield Academy, she was getting into fights and her grades were dropping. We sat her down last year and told her we wouldn't tolerate her behavior and we sent her to Butterfield. Since then her grades have improved and she's in better spirits, and doesn't get into fights anymore." Catherine answered smiling.

"Wonderful. What would you say is your greatest challenge as parents? Meaning, your personal parenting skills." The social worker probed.

"Well, I think that all children are different, and we intend to give both children what they need. But, with Lindsey, I suppose my greatest challenge, since she's a teenager, is letting go and trusting her." Catherine spilled.

"My greatest challenge regarding Lindsey is that I don't want to overstep boundaries. She still misses her father greatly and I don't want her to get the feeling as though I am trying to take his place because I'm not." Gil responded after being nodded at by the social worker.

"Okay. So both of you are now parents to Lindsey. How are you going to handle now having two children to raise, and dividing time?"

"I will begin working part time so that I may devote more time to helping Emily and getting her adjusted and helping her. We are prepared to give enough love and attention to both children. We will make sure that neither one feels slighted." Catherine answered confidently. Catherine and Gil couldn't help but feel like they were under interrogation. Now they knew how the suspects feel when they are being charged with a crime.

"Very good." She commented. "Now, one of my main concerns with Emily is her self-confidence. She's confused as to what is going on, and though while most of the time she's sweet, she has a tendency to lash out when she feels threatened. How will you deal with this?"

"Well, we will sit her down and talk to her calmly and explain to her that lashing out isn't the answer. We'll try to make sure she doesn't feel threatened in our home." Gil answered softly.

"Can I ask a question?" Catherine stopped her.

"Of course, Mrs. Grissom."

"Has she ever been physically abused?"

The social worked sighed sadly and answered, "We didn't know at the time, but she was placed in a not-so pleasant environment in her last foster home. They hit her, and starved her." Catherine and Gil's stomachs turned. They saw the worst people every day, but it still affected them to hear of any child being abused. It further made them want to comfort and take this girl in. "Now, would you be interested in meeting her today? We wouldn't mention anything of adoption to her, but we like to see how the parents interact with the child."

Catherine and Gil both nodded their heads smiling. "We would love to meet her today."

Catherine and Gil barely said a word to each other as they followed the social work in their car minutes later. They were nervous, but excited beyond words.

As they pulled up to the house, Catherine and Gil suddenly realized they'd been here before. This was a house they'd been called to multiple times, and was not fit for a child. They didn't understand how people like this could be foster parents. Catherine and Gil got out of the car after parking behind the social worker. They followed her to the door and they rang the door bell. A few moments later the door was opened by a haggard looking woman.

"Oh, it's you." She said giving the social worker a dirty look before letting them in. When they walked in, several other children were playing nearby. They seemed well taken care of, but weren't outwardly happy children. Catherine took her husband's hand as they were lead through the hallway and towards the sound of light crying. "She's being punished right now. She hit one of the other kids." The woman reported.

Catherine shook her head sadly as they approached the bedroom. The haggard looking woman knocked loudly on the door. "Emily! Your social worker is here." With that she left them at the bedroom.

Mrs. Westenburg opened the door, and asked the Grissom's to wait outside for a moment. They peeked in, and saw the four year old girl sitting on the floor, amidst a bundle of toys and clothes crying.

"Hi, Emily." She gently greeted the girl, and sat down next to her. "Are you upset right now?" Emily nodded her head and continued crying. "Well, I have something to cheer you up. Would you like to know what it is?"

Emily nodded again, moving into the social worker's lap and cuddling up. She stroked the girl's hair gently. "I have some special people who would like to meet you. Their names are Mr. and Mrs. Grissom. Would you like to say hi?"

Emily hesitantly nodded her head and got off her social worker's lap. Her social worker led her to the bedroom door where a man and woman stood waiting. Catherine moved first, kneeling down to get on Emily's eye level.

"Emily, this is Mrs. Grissom. Can you say hi?" Emily looked at the woman curiously, her face still a little wet from crying. She was a timid little girl, but was brave enough right now to respond to the nice looking lady.

"Hi, Mrs. Grissom." She said quietly, still holding the social worker's hand. Gil bent down and mimicked Catherine's movements.

"Emily, this is Mr. Grissom. Can you tell him hello as well?"

Emily was more hesitant to say hi to Gil, but after a few moments she said, "Hi Mr. Grissom." Catherine and Gil both smiled at the little girl, wanting to just hug her to pieces, how scared she looked. Emily didn't take her eyes off the two new adults, taking in their forms and contemplating if they were nice people or not. She'd been wronged by many adults in her short life, and was not quick to trust.

Catherine reached into her purse and took out something that Gil didn't even know she had.

"Emily, I have a present for you." She smiled at the girl. Emily's eyes fell on a little blue container of bubbles. Emily looked to her social worker who nodded and smiled.

"Bubbles?" Emily asked curiously.

"Yes, bubbles, and they are just for you." Catherine answered smiling as she handed the bubbles to Emily's outstretched hand.

"Can you open them, please?" The little girl asked politely. Catherine unscrewed the top, her face kind and gentle to Emily, and supported the bottom with her hand as she handed the top to her prospective daughter.

"Have you ever blown bubbles before?" Gil asked Emily. Emily shook her head no. "Would you like me to show you?" Gil asked smiling.

"Yes, please." Emily answered softly. Gil picked up the bubble wand and brought up to his mouth and blew air out softly. As he did this bubbles came out of the holes in the wand and gradually made their way through the bedroom and popped. "Here you go, now you try." Gil said sticking the stick in the bubble bottle and lifting it out and handing it to her.

Emily started just a little when Gil placed his hand over Emily's, guiding her to put the wand back into the solution. After dousing it, he carefully guided her hand away from the bottle and up to her mouth.

"Good. Blow like you're trying to whistle." He instructed her gently. The little girl blew at the wand, and several bubbles emerged, appearing magically in the air to the little girl. Her eyes and face were in awe as she watched the clear, shiny bubbles float gently through the air. She didn't take her eyes off them, until they eventually popped. Catherine knew Gil was already a wonderful father to Lindsey, but it was so endearing watching him interact with the four year old girl. Catherine couldn't wait to see what else he would do.

"I like bubbles." Emily said smiling at Gil and Catherine.

"I love bubbles too." Gil replied to Emily smiling at her.

Emily turned to her social worker and whispered in her ear, "I like them."

Gil and Catherine shared a smile, as Emily hugged her social worker, one of the few people in this world she trusted.

"I'm glad you like them. They are nice, aren't they?" The social worker affirmed. Emily turned back to the Grissoms.

"Mrs. Grissom, do you want to blow bubbles?"

Catherine smiled at the girl, as she held the bubbles. "That's okay; you can keep playing with them."

The social worker reluctantly turned Emily to face her again.

"Emily, we have to go now, but Mr. and Mrs. Grissom will come see you again soon, okay?"

Emily's eyes welled up with tears as she gripped her social worker's arm.

"Don't go!" She begged. She picked Emily up, and she clung to the woman, crying. Emily was definitely not happy here. It seemed that the social worker was used to this sort of protesting from Emily, and had a bit of a routine.

"Emily, you know I can't stay here with you right now. I have to go visit other children too."

"Nooooo..." Emily sobbed, as she stroked her back. "I promise I'm going to come back in a couple days and hopefully I'll come back with Mr. and Mrs. Grissom. Would you like that? Hmm? We could blow more bubbles next time."

"You can keep the bubbles if you want, Emily." Catherine offered, recalling how much delight she'd gotten out of it. Emily seemed very happy at this offer, and reached out to receive the bottle again from Catherine.

"Thank you." She told Catherine.

"You're welcome."

"And I'll call you tonight and see how you're doing, okay?" The social worker offered. Emily seemed to get very lonely. The house was filled with mostly little boys, and she didn't have anyone to play with. Emily nodded and gave her social worker one more hug. She was put down on her feet. Emily said goodbye to Gil and Catherine and soon the Grissom's the social worker were leaving the foster home.

"How about we meet again on Monday? Same time?" The social worker asked as they went to their separate cars. Gil nodded in agreement.

"See you then." Catherine answered softly as they got into their vehicles.

Ava was cackling as she watched Nick, a silly look on his face. He tilted his head back slightly, and then dramatically breathed out onto the stainless steel spoon he had. Carefully, making circus music, Nick positioned the spoon on his nose. After a few "dun..dun..duns", he moved his hand away, and the spoon hung magically on his nose. Ava was in fits of laughter, as she tried to use her plastic baby spoon to do the same. It had apple sauce on it, however, so the toddler got an unpleasant surprise. Ava squeaked in surprise as apple sauce landed on her nose and dripped down her face.

"Sweetheart, it doesn't work if there is food on the spoon." Nick said smiling at her. Nick was trying to keep Ava entertained as Sara made dinner. Lindsey had been picked up about fifteen minutes ago by Catherine and Gil. They looked tired when they had come by the house. They had told Nick that they were sad at the situation Emily was in and hope they could take her in as soon as possible. He'd given Ava a little snack to keep her occupied, while he sat at the table, after setting it. The girl didn't like healthy food, it seemed, and she was always asking them for candy. They'd made it through the rest of the day so far, however, with no more temper tantrums.

"Sawa!" Ava called from where she was seated at the dining room table into the kitchen where Sara was cooking pasta.

"Hi, Ava." Sara quickly answered, trying to keep her tone light and happy, but she was exhausted. The couple had spent part of their evening consoling and talking down Lindsey, who was a lot more upset than her parents probably realized. She wasn't angry with them, but she spoke to the Stokes about being afraid she was going to be a horrible older sister. They ended up going to the park, and Sara and Lindsey had gone on a heart to heart walk, while Nick played with Ava on the playground. After their talk Lindsey had been in a bit better spirits about the adoption. She had a bit more confidence in her big sister abilities. Sara had pointed how well she acted around Ava and that had made Lindsey feel better.

"Pasta, Sawa!" Ava cheered happily from her booster seat.

"In a minute." Sara answered a little more shortly than she intended. Nick saw that Sara was exhausted, so he decided to take Ava outside.

"Come on, peanut, let's go outside and play for a little while."

"Outside!" Ava replied happily. Nick picked her up and set her on the ground and she took off running and attempted to open the sliding glass door that led to the backyard. Ava didn't quite have the muscle and body weight yet to push the door open, so she started pounding on it with her palm, until Nick caught up with her.

"Be patient." He reminded her gently, as he reached above her head and easily slid the door open. Ava scurried outside, and promptly fell flat on her face. Ava slowly sat up and her face scrunched up as she began to cry. Nick quickly went over to her and picked her up.

"You're okay baby-girl. Where does it hurt?" Nick asked her. Ava pointed to her knee, and Nick planted a kiss there. Then she pointed to her arm, and he kissed that too. "There, all better." Ava was good to go, so Nick set her down and she ran for a ball that was sitting in the yard.

Ava kicked the ball and ran after it and repeated this a few times before deciding to stop playing with the ball. She decided to chase after the butterfly that was flying by the bushes. Nick conserved his energy, sitting down next to a nearby tree as he kept a close eye on Ava. He commented on her superb butterfly chasing skills, and Ava reveled in his praise. Soon, the butterfly came near him, and Nick pretended to trip her so he could hold Ava in his arms.

"Oh no! You tripped! Wasn't that lucky that you tripped right by me?" Ava giggled and squirmed as he began to tickle her tummy.

"No tickle!" Ava said laughing.

"Yes, tickle." Nick replied tickling her even more.

Sara came outside to tell Nick and Ava it was time for dinner. Her eyes fell upon the two over by a tree, and Nick was blowing raspberries on her tummy; Ava in fits of loud laughter.

"Hey, you two!" She called out, feeling refreshed now that she'd had a little bit of a quiet. "Time for dinner." Nick let Ava down from his arms and she ran to Sara.

"Pasta!" Ava yelled as Sara caught her up in her arms.

"Before pasta, you need to wash your hands."

"No washing, pasta!" Ava cheered. Nick caught up to them, kissing Sara on the cheek as they walked back inside.

"Ava, you don't say no when I tell you to do something. Do you need to go potty first?" Ava shook her head no. Sara sighed as she took her into the bathroom to wash her hands. Ava had been against potty training since they began last month.

"Are you sure you don't need to go?" Sara asked her again as she got out the little stool Ava used to reach the toilet and the sink. The toddler shook her head no again, and Sara reached into the back of her pull up underwear, and felt that it was wet.

"Ava! What did Nick and I tell you about telling us when you needed to go potty?" Sara asked turning Ava around on the stool so that she could look her in the eyes.

"Um...I don't remember?" Ava answered trying her best to sound innocent. Sara sighed, and carefully pulled off Ava's shorts and underwear, placing the soiled Pull Ups in the diaper trash can.

"Next time, you tell us when you need to go. We don't go to the restroom in our pants."

"Why not?" She asked curiously.

"Because no one will want to be your friend." Sara answered. Ava shrugged as Sara helped her into another pair of pull-up underwear.

"Pasta now?" Ava asked. Sara sighed. She was obviously not going to get through to Ava right now.

"Only people who wash their hands get to eat pasta." Sara told Ava. She picked the toddler up to stand on the stool by the sink. Sara started to wash her own hands, so that maybe Ava would see that's what everyone does, and want to be just like her. She lathered her hands and then jokingly touched Ava's arm, getting soap on her. Ava giggled and splashed water on Sara. Sara smiled and continued to help Ava wash her hands.

After they had finished washing their hands they went into the dining room. Nick helped Ava into her booster seat, while Sara put pasta on Ava's plate.

"Nick, Sara twied to make mess in da bafwoom." Ava informed him.

"Oh, did she?" Nick looked at his wife across the table, amused. Ava's booster chair sat close to Sara tonight, but the parents would take turns helping feed her. "What did Sara do in the bathroom, Ava?" Nick asked curiously.

"She putted soap on me!" Ava answered grabbing her sippy cup.

"That wasn't very nice." Nick commented, raising his eyebrows at Sara. "What do you think we should do?" He asked Ava.

"Time-out for Sawa!" Ava exclaimed as she tried reaching for her fork which Sara held out of reach.

"Fork..." Ava whined to Sara.

"I'll make sure she pays later." Nick commented, aiming it at Sara. Sara smiled and turned back to Ava.

"Ava, tonight, we're not going to wave our fork around while we're eating, right?" The little girl frequently displayed abysmal table manners, something they worked on constantly. Sometimes, she stood up on the table, and threw her food, and yelled. Ava nodded and took her fork from Sara and tried to scoop her pasta on her fork and place it in her mouth. Unfortunately, the pasta kept rolling off the fork.

Ava sniffled, "Pasta no go on fork!"

Sara patiently cut up the large spaghetti strands so it would be easier for the toddler to eat. When she was finished, Sara showed her out to scoop up a little bit with her fork, and handed the fork to Ava. Ava looked at the fork curiously, and put it back down on her plate. This silver wear stuff was just crazy! Ava leaned down and stuck her face in her food, chomping it down rudely like a dog.

"Ava!" Nick and Sara both exclaimed. Ava looked up from her food with a face full of spaghetti sauce.

"We don't eat like that." Nick said firmly. Nick grabbed his napkin and walked around the table, promptly wiping Ava's face free of the spaghetti sauce. They were both aware that Ava knew not to eat like that. She was testing them, something she'd been doing constantly for the past two months. When Nick was finished, he leaned down to Ava's face.

"Ava, if you can't eat nicely, then you'll go to bed with no dinner."

Ava's eyes welled up with tears and she shook her head.

"Pasta." She replied sadly as she sniffled.

"We eat with forks, baby. You know that." Sara said gently yet firmly. She handed Ava back her fork.

The rest of the meal was eaten without incident, as the three talked amongst each other. Ava knew that after dinner, it was soon time for bed, so she got out her toys for a few more minutes of playtime. It had been a long day for the toddler, and soon, she got so tired that she laid her head down on the floor where she had been playing. She quickly fell asleep right there on the soft carpet.

"I guess I'll give her a bath tomorrow morning." Sara said smiling as she bent down to pick up Ava and laid her gently onto the bed as to not disturb her. The little girl was still dressed in her play clothes, and had pasta sauce all over the front of her shirt thanks to her puppy-eating habits. Sara decided to strip her shirt off so her bed wouldn't get messy. She tucked her niece under the covers and kissed her cheek softly. Nick joined them after a few moments, and they just looked down at the baby girl that had come so suddenly into their lives. But now, they couldn't imagine life without her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

When Grissom and Catherine met with the social worker for the second time she happily told them that they could adopt Emily. They were overjoyed and shared the news with Nick, Sara, Lindsey, and the rest of the team. Through out the following week they had transformed their guest bedroom into one suited for a four year old. They bought toys, books, and a day bed. They found wallpaper that was a lovely shade of blue with bubbles everywhere, in memory of the first meeting with the young girl.

Lindsey had actually started to get a little bit excited, and was helping set up her sister's room. Well, Catherine and Gil still had to address some jealous feelings, but overall, Lindsey was being very supportive and helpful. The day had finally arrived when Emily would come to stay with them. The social worker would bring her over and stay a couple hours to make sure Emily was comfortable. The family was nervously adjusting and cleaning things, keeping their eyes on the clock. They would arrive any minute now.

They all jumped at the same time when the doorbell rang. They stared at the door for a few minutes before they hurried to go open it. Catherine reached the door first and opened it to see Emily and her social worker. Emily was clinging onto her social worker's free hand.

"Hi, Emily!" Catherine greeted the little girl warmly. Gil was right behind her, but Lindsey stayed in the living room. They'd told Emily about Lindsey, but the older girl was worried about how Emily would respond to her. "Do you remember me?"

"Mrs. Grissom." She identified her.

"That's right, and this is my husband, Mr. Grissom."

"Bubbles." The little girl said simply, recalling the event that had helped her warm to her new parents. Emily and her social worker walked into the house. Emily looked around and took in her surroundings.

"We're very excited about you coming to live here Emily. We have your room all set up for you." Catherine said beaming. The social worker excitedly shook Emily's hand, trying to get her excited also. They could all tell Emily was still a little nervous, but the look on her face showed that it was a good nervous. She kind of liked the Grissoms so far.

"That sounds like fun, Emily! Why don't we go check it out!" Emily nodded and they followed Catherine and Gil up the stairs to Emily's bedroom.

Catherine opened the door and said, "You can be the first one to walk in sweetheart, since it's your room." Emily looked at her social worker who nodded her okay to do so. Emily opened the door slowly and as she walked in she gasped. She had never seen so many toys and stuffed animals.

"Bubbles!" She exclaimed when she saw the walls of her newly done bedroom.

Gil and Catherine thought it was perfect when they saw the bubble wallpaper at the store. They plastered it all over her walls, always reminding Emily of their first meeting, when they fell in love with her. Emily began to curiously explore her new room. A few dolls sat on a tiny bench by her bed, and she immediately took one in to her arms to keep her company during her exploration. She touched the bed, and it felt soft. The carpet was squishy beneath her feet. And the opened window kissed her cheek with a light, reassuring breeze.

After a few moments of letting Emily explore her room, Gil spoke up. "Do you like it Emily?"

Emily looked at Gil and nodded, giving him the biggest smile she could muster. She just laughed and ran back to her social worker, hugging her leg tightly.

"What do you say to Mr. and Mrs. Grissom?" She reminded Emily.

"Thank you." She smiled up at both of them.

"Emily, we'd like you to meet someone else." Gil said as he gently pulled on Lindsey's arm to stand in front of him. "This is our daughter, Lindsey."

"Hi Emily! It's very nice to meet you." Lindsey said, smiling at the young girl.

Emily took in Lindsey and after a few moments answered back with a timid, "Hello."

"She's sixteen years old, and knows a lot of fun things to do, so I bet you'll get along really well." Catherine kneeled down in front of Emily. For the first time, Emily's eyes seemed to light up. All these cool new things and people were at the new house. The social worker said she was going to live here now, and that Mr. and Mrs. Grissom were going to adopt her. She wasn't sure at first, but seeing their house and meeting Lindsey seemed to sell her on the idea.

"I hope you like it here Emily." Catherine told her as she slowly reached out and gently rubbed Emily's arm.

"Well, Emily, let me go get your things from the car, and maybe we can all go into the living room and talk for a few minutes." Mrs. Westenburg suggested.

"Okay." Emily agreed, and grabbed onto her hand again, walking down the hall.

"Lindsey, will you pour our guests a drink?" Catherine asked her daughter.

"Yeah, what would you like, Emily?" She asked the little girl.

Emily looked at Lindsey and asked softly, "Do you have apple juice?"

Lindsey beamed and answered, "You know what? That's my favorite. We bought a brand new carton today."

Emily thought it was totally cool that Lindsey liked the same drink she did, and followed her into the kitchen. Emily just watched in awe as Lindsey moved around the area, getting a glass, and then the apple juice.

"Emily, what's your favorite thing to play?" Lindsey asked her new little sister. Emily's face seemed to drop a little bit.

"Hide and seek."

"Really? I love hide and seek. We'll have to play together soon. There are awesome hiding places in here." Lindsey replied handing Emily her drink in a plastic cup, just in case she dropped it.

"Sometimes, I just like to hide." Emily admitted, looking at the floor.

"Aww, I'm sorry." Lindsey said, not quite knowing how to respond. She knew Emily had problems, and sensed that she was, for whatever reason, opening up to her first. "Well, when we play, I'll do my best to find you."

Before Emily could respond, the Grissom's and Emily's social worker came into the kitchen.

"We took all your stuff up to your room, Emily." Emily's social worker told her as she knelt down on the floor in front of her.

"Thank you." She said politely.

The group sat in the living room for some time, just trying to have some light conversation to loosen a still tense Emily up. They talked about some of the fun things they would be doing, and some of the nice kids in the neighborhood she could play with. Emily was receptive to all they were saying, but was still visibly worried. Eventually the time came when Emily's social worker had to leave. Emily visibly tensed.

"You have to leave now?" Emily asked tugging on her social worker's hand.

"Yes, Emily. I need to leave, but you're going to stay here with the Grissom's." Emily knew this would be coming, but that didn't make it any easier. Emily's eyes welled up in tears as her social worker bent down to hug her.

"I'll come check up on you, but you're going to love it here. I promise. They're good people Emily. They won't hurt you. You can trust them."

"Okay." Emily accepted, but she was still not happy. She walked with the social worker to the door, holding her hand the whole time. Emily let go as she stepped outside, and Catherine stood behind her. She put a hand supportively on her shoulder as she waved goodbye to the first person she'd trusted in a long time.

"Fee Fi, Fo Fum, I smell the blood of Ava's tum!" Nick teased in a silly voice, towering over the precious two year old lounging on the couch. She'd been pretty bored all day, and they had decided to take her to Hyperactive House, an indoor playground. Ava giggled uncontrollably when Nick started ticking her tummy mercilessly.

"Is Ava ready to go?" Sara called from the hallway picking up a few last minute toys.

"She just needs her hair put up and her shoes." Nick called back to her.

"Would you like to try?" Sara asked him in an amused tone. She knew Nick didn't have the first clue about doing a little girl's hair.

"Ha, ha. Very funny." Nick commented. "Ava, you need to pick up your mess."

"No mess." Ava said holding up her hands as if to prove her point, but the pile of Barbie's gave her away.

"Yes, mess, the Barbie's lying on the floor." Nick said tugging her off the couch.

"You guys mean!" Ava protested. She started to kick her Barbie's under the couch, but Nick stopped her.

"Ava, no. You pick them up and put them in the basket. When you're finished, Sara will do your hair, and we'll go to Hyperactive House.

Ava perked up at the thought of going to the Hyperactive House. She picked up all her Barbie's and ran over to her basket and tossed them in. She then proceeded to run over to Sara.

"Put up hair! Wanna pway at pwayhouse." Ava said tugging on Sara's hand.

"Let's go potty first before we do your hair okay?" Sara said taking her hand to lead her to the bathroom.

"Okay. No peeking!" She told Nick. He laughed and left Sara to handle the toddler.

Ava used the restroom and then Nick called Sara.

"Sweetheart, will you put on your Pull Ups for me?" Sara told her daughter quickly. She poked her head out into the hallway, she thought momentarily, but then ended up talking for several minutes. She glanced back momentarily at Ava, and she seemed to be dressing herself with almost no trouble. When she finally turned back, Ava had her shorts back on.

"Good job sweetie!" Sara congratulated her as she helped Ava wash her hands.

"Go pway now?" Ava asked excitedly.

"Not yet, I have to put your hair up first." Sara answered as she brought Ava's hair up and tied it back with a scrunchie.

About twenty minutes later, the Stokes arrived at Hyperactive House, which was swarming with toddlers and preschoolers, as their exhausted parents sat close by watching. They told Ava to play nicely, and she scurried off to play on the brightly colored equipment, all within the safe confines of a building. Nick and Sara found a bench underneath a window that no one was sitting on and soon found themselves relaxing.

"Well, this is nice." Nick said putting his arm around his wife. Sara in response laid her head on Nick's shoulder. With all the young girl had been through, they couldn't help but realize how resilient she was. She played very nicely with the other children, taking turns on the zip line and slides. She did push a little boy once, but Nick's voice from about twenty feet away set her straight again. She even kissed his arm better for good measure.

"She's a good kid Sara. See I told you not to worry." Nick said leaning his head back against the wall.

"It's been a long day for you hasn't it? Entertaining Ava all morning. You poor baby." Sara mockingly told him laughingly.

They both happened to look over at Ava at the same time, who had just deboarded a slide. Nick and Sara were just being introduced to the embarrassment of being parents in the worst possible way. As they took in Ava's form, they could clearly see that she had wet her pants. The bottom and front of her shorts were dark, and she had an uncomfortable look on her face.

"Oh no." Sara said putting her head in her hands.

"I thought she was wearing pull-ups?" Nick asked as he extricated himself from Sara to stand up and go get Ava, who seemed to be avoiding them at all costs. When she saw her parents' disappointed faces, she ran behind some playground equipment and the moved to a new one when they got closer. They easily outsmarted her however, and Nick grabbed her from behind, holding her safely away from his body. The parents tried to take her into the restroom as discreetly as possible.

When they reached the girls' room, Nick set her down, and had to grab her arm again when she tried to bolt.

"Did you finish going potty Ava Elizabeth or do still need to go?" Nick asked as he kept a firm grip on her arm. He noticed her still dancing around and he didn't know if it was from having to use the restroom or because she was uncomfortable.

"No. I done." She told him, still wanting to get away.

"Ava, you need to stop squirming." He told her firmly. Sara sighed and took her hand, leading her into the girls' bathroom.

"Call if you need me." Nick called as the door closed.

Sara led her into a stall and asked again, "Do you remember what I told you last week about telling us when you had to go to the restroom?"

Ava shook her head no.

"I think you do remember. I told you to tell us if you had to go to the bathroom. Now let's try this again. Ava, do you need to go potty or do you just feel like dancing around?" Sara asked firmly.

"I need ta go poopy." Ava muttered softly. Sara helped Ava pull her pants down, and she soon saw that Ava had put on regular underwear instead of the Pull Ups she was supposed to be wearing.

"Ava Elizabeth Sidle! Why aren't you wearing your Pull Ups?"

"Coz I'm a big girl." She told Sara weakly.

"Big girls don't go to the restroom in their pants." Sara replied firmly as she helped Ava sit on the toilet. Ava started crying, not liking that Sara and Nick were upset with her.

"Sawa mad?" She asked. Sara was a sucker for tears. She didn't want to make Ava ashamed for wetting her pants. She was only two, but that's what the Pull Ups were for. Ava had deliberately disobeyed them.

"Sara is disappointed that you disobeyed me." Ava started to cry more and Sara sighed, "Finish going potty and we'll talk after. Okay?"

Minutes later, after putting on a fresh pair of Pull Ups and pants, and washing their hands, Sara and Ava walked out the bathroom. Nick was still waiting outside, leaning against the opposite wall with his arms crossed. Ava avoided eye contact with Nick as they approached him.

"Did you talk to Sara?" Nick asked as he saw Ava was sniffling.

"Yes." Ava cried softly. Nick kneeled down next to Ava and looked up at his wife.

"Ava, I said we were going to talk more when you were done." Sara reported.

"No wanna talk. Wanna go home." Ava said tearfully as she tried to get her hand away from Sara. Nick and Sara thought it was a good idea, since Ava's good mood seemed to be ruined, as well as theirs. They allowed Ava her freedom, obviously not wanting to be touched by her parents, but followed very closely behind her. They got in the car and headed home.

When they got home Ava attempted to run into her room, but Nick's firm voice and hand gripping her arm stopped her.

"Nooooo!" She protested, hating to be in trouble, but she was making it worse. Nick picked her up to stop her escape attempt, and took her to the couch, holding her firmly on his lap. Sara tossed the keys on the counter and sat down next to her.

"Ava Elizabeth Sidle, stop." Sara said strictly, but calmly. Ava continued to cry and squirm. "We need to talk about what happened this afternoon. You disobeyed me Ava." Sara said moving to sit on the coffee table so that she could face Ava as she talked.

"How did Ava disobey you Sara?" Nick as furrowing his eyebrows.

"She put on regular underwear instead of her Pull Ups." Sara reported. "And when she needed to go to the restroom, she didn't come and tell us like we asked."

Nick moved his head so he could look at Ava in the face. Her expression confirmed her guilt, and she finally stopped protesting, knowing she was caught with no excuses left.

"Ava, do you have anything to say for yourself?" Nick asked softly. Ava shook her head no defiantly.

"Do you want to apologize to Sara?" He prompted her.

Ava glared at Sara, and shook her head no. Nick chose not to push the apology. They would work on apologizing another day.

"Ava, you need to understand that we expect you to wear your Pull Ups until you can use the toilet by yourself. Because you keep having accidents." Nick explained to her. "And you do not disobey Sara and I."

Ava glared at Nick and pushed him away trying to get off his lap. "You mean!" She screamed. "Sara stupid!" She added.

Nick felt the urge to turn Ava over and give her a few firm swats to her seat, but decided it wouldn't be a good idea. He and Sara hadn't even discussed the possibility yet, and they could deal with her in different ways.

"Alright, Ava." Nick's tone was no-nonsense. He secured the toddler in his arms and marched her to her bedroom, depositing her on her bed. "You stay here until Sara or I tell you to come out."

As Nick walked out of the bedroom and back into the living room he saw Sara sniffling. He walked over to her and pulled her into a firm embrace.

"She didn't mean it. She's just angry."

"I still feel like she hates me, Nick." Sara confessed to her husband.

Figuring out how to ease a toddler into a new living situation was difficult for all of them, but they knew it was hardest for Ava. She received next to no discipline with her parents, further complicated her transfer to Nick and Sara. There were a lot of things that Ava was figuring out they didn't tolerate like her parents.

"She doesn't hate you Sara. I promise you that. We're going to get through this." Nick told Sara as he rubbed her back soothingly.

"I don't want her to think we don't like her, because it seems like we're always having to tell her not to do things, and giving her time outs. And I don't want her to think we hate her for wetting her pants. I don't know if she understands that." Sara confessed further.

"When she calms down we will go in there and tell her that we don't hate her for wetting herself and we'll explain to her that we only tell her what not to do for her own safety. I really don't think she hates us though Sara. She knows we love her." Nick whispered into Sara's ear.

"I hope so." Sara whispered back, and then moved to wipe her eyes.

"And, Sara. While we're talking, I...I don't know if I should, but I had the strongest urge to spank her just then. Do you, are you...?"

Sara sighed and answered. "I only approve of spanking her when she's been very disrespectful. I don't want to overuse it, but if it's necessary then we should."

"Like just then? If I had spanked her, you would've been okay with it?" Nick checked. He was shocked at how instinctively he had the urge to correct Ava, but she was getting out of control.

"At that point I would have been okay with it because she was getting out of control." Sara answered rubbing his arm. Nick kissed his wife.

"Okay. I really didn't like her being disrespectful like that. So, if she does it again, that's how we'll deal with it?" Nick made sure.

"Yes, that is how we will deal with it. I want to try talking to her now Nick." Sara sighed gripping his hand and leading him to Ava's bedroom.

Nick and Sara knocked on her door before entering, and Ava was laying face down on her bed. She seemed to have calmed down, but when her parents entered, a scowl appeared on her face. Ava didn't know if she liked this new living arrangement. She got in trouble a whole lot more than she did at home.

"Ava, have you calmed down now?" Sara asked her niece. Ava shrugged and continued to look face down.

"I'm always in twouble." She muttered softly.

They both sat down on Ava's bed, and Sara pulled her into her lap this time.

"Well, sweetheart, different houses have different rules. At your mommy and daddy's you were allowed to do certain things, but Nick and I won't allow it in this house. And if you break the rules, you get in trouble and get punished."

"But why?"

"We want to keep you safe Peanut. We love you too much to see you get hurt. Doing bad things isn't good." Nick answered rubbing Ava's head affectionately.

"And Ava, Nick and I weren't mad at you for wetting your pants. Accidents happen sometimes. We were disappointed that you didn't come and tell us you had to go, and you wore underwear instead of your Pull Ups. It's okay to have accidents sometimes, but that's why we want you to wear your Pull Ups."

Ava looked up at Sara for the first time during the conversation. "I was havin' fun and didn't wanna stop."

Sara laughed and kissed Ava's head. "I know it's hard to stop when you're having fun. But was having an accident and having to leave very fun?"

Ava shook her head and answered, "Not huh. No fun."

After a few moments Ava turned twisted in Sara's lap so that she was facing Sara. "Sawa?"

"Yes, sweetheart?" Sara asked Ava.

"You not stupid. I'm sowwy."

"Thank you, sweetheart." Sara kissed her again, and Nick beamed proudly, glad that Ava decided to apologize. "Are you ready to be a good girl now?"

Ava nodded as she cuddled into Sara's upper body. "Me good girl."

"Yes." Sara brought her into a warm embrace. "Ava's my good girl." The family of three got up and went into the back yard to enjoy the rest of their day.

Gil was out in the backyard barbequing burgers as he watched Catherine blowing bubbles with Emily. Lindsey was sitting next to the grill, sipping a Coke, watching her mother and sister play. Gil kept stealing glances at her, and she decided to call him on it after a while.

"Gil, what do you want?" She questioned him.

"Oh, I'm just thinking about you. And what a wonderful big sister you're gonna be. She's already in love with you."

Lindsey rolled her eyes, but didn't deny it. Emily had stuck to Lindsey like glue following her wherever she went.

"I think you have a new appendage." Gil told her, smirking underneath his sunglasses.

"Windsey!" They heard Emily call her big sister.

"I think I should permanently change my name to Windsey." Lindsey muttered laughing. Gil gave her a loving push as she got up and walked over to where Emily and Catherine were seated on the grass.

"Yes, miss Emily? What can I do for you?" Lindsey asked plopping down on the grass beside her.

"Will you chase me?" She requested, already getting up on her feet, her stance signaling she was ready to run.

"Weeellll...I don't kn..." She faked, and then darted for Emily. The four year old let out a high pitched squeal and took off running. Lindsey allowed her to get away for quite a while, of course, but eventually she caught her and spun her around in her arms. Lindsey didn't realize it, but that was the first real close intimate contact she'd had with one of the Grissom's. Catherine and Gil looked on proudly. Emily giggled in Lindsey's arms, happy for the first time in a while. Lindsey set her down.

"Okay you catch me now!" Lindsey slowly ran off letting Emily have an easier time catching her. Emily soon caught up to Emily and they both landed in a heap on the grass. Emily was above her sister in the grass, and she felt so comfortable with Lindsey that she collapsed on top, and she gave the sixteen year old a big hug.

"You're nice, Windsey." She told the older girl. Lindsey felt tears come to her eyes as she hugged back the young girl.

"You're pretty nice too, if I do say so myself." Lindsey answered starting to tickle Emily on the stomach.

The family had a pleasant dinner, sitting on the picnic table outside. Catherine and Gil couldn't be more thrilled with the way Lindsey and Emily seemed to be bonding. And Lindsey thought it was nice to be looked up to as the cool older sister. She thought maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. After they'd cleaned up, it was getting rather late, so they decided it was time for Emily to go to bed after a very eventful day.

"Are you sleepy Emily?" Catherine asked noticing that she was rubbing her eyes.

"Yes." She replied.

"Well, let's get you to bed then." Catherine told her. Emily immediately seemed to tense at the announcement.

"Do I have to go back to the Jenkins?"

Catherine knelt down in front of Emily. "Sweetheart, this is your new home. You're staying here now. You never have to go back to the Jenkins."

"I don't?" Emily questioned. She wasn't quite sure what this living arrangement entailed.

"No. You remember that nice, fluffy bed we showed you in your room earlier?"

"Uh-huh." Catherine took her hand and started to lead her to her bedroom.

"Well, you are one lucky girl, because that's where you get to sleep!"

"That's a big bed." Emily said softly.

"Yes it is, and it's all yours. What pajamas do you want to wear tonight? Your regular ones or these ones?" Catherine asked pulling out a pair of pink pajamas with Tinker Bell on them. Emily eyed both of them carefully. With all this new stuff going on, she opted for familiarity.

"The regular ones." She pointed to her cozy, old ones. Catherine handed them to the little girl.

"Do you need help changing, or can you do it yourself?"

"I can do it myself." Emily answered softly. She wasn't comfortable with the thought of Catherine seeing her without her clothes on. Catherine seemed to understand that and smiled softly at her.

"Just let me know when you're done." Emily watched Catherine leave, and made sure that the door was closed before she took off her clothes. She quickly put her pjs on, keeping her eye on the door, afraid that Catherine might barge in like the boys did at her old house. After she finished putting on her pjs she opened the door to see Catherine talking to Gil.

"I'm done." Emily called softly. Catherine turned around and reached out her hand.

"Then let me show you the bathroom so that you can brush your teeth." Emily accepted Catherine's offer and proceeded to brush her teeth, with Catherine staying close by in case she needed help. She helped Emily crawl into bed and tucked her under the covers.

"Is it okay if Gil and Lindsey come in to say goodnight to you sweetheart?" Catherine asked smoothing down some of Emily's hair.

"Okay." She agreed. "I'll be right back."

Catherine found Gil and Lindsey, and thought it was a good idea for them all to say goodnight. They decided not to push hugging just yet, wanting Emily to decide how much physical contact she wanted. Gil stroked her hair a little bit as he said goodnight. When Lindsey sat on the bed, though, Emily sat back up and threw her arms around the teenager. Lindsey smiled and hugged Emily back as tightly as she could without hurting the girl.

"Will you be here in the morning?" Emily asked fearing that this nice family would soon disappear.

"You bet I am. You're stuck with me forever." Lindsey told Emily tickling her sides before pulling away and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. Catherine and Gil temporarily held their breaths, not sure if Emily would tolerate a kiss, but she seemed fine.

"Goodnight, Em." Lindsey told her sister. They all repeated their goodnights, turning off the light, but leaving the door cracked open. Maybe I won't ever have to hide again.' Emily thought to herself as she drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

"Lindsey, are you almost ready?" Gil called up the stairs to his teenage daughter. They were always waiting for her, no matter where they had to go. She wanted to look perfect, as always, and was currently messing with her hair in her bathroom.

"Sweetheart, you do realize you're going swimming, so it doesn't matter what your hair looks like." Catherine called from where she was standing at the bottom of the stairs. Lindsey rolled her eyes as she finished off in the mirror. Her parents were teenagers once - didn't they get it? Sure, there was probably going to be no one there to impress, but so what?

Catherine turned to Emily, who was watching the end of Dora the Explorer on the television.

"Emily we're going to be leaving soon. Do you have everything you want to take?" Catherine asked her as Emily turned around to look at Catherine.

"Yes, Catherine." She said politely. Catherine and Gil couldn't help but notice how uptight and tense Emily still was, but she was getting better. She wasn't quite sure how to act around the Grissoms yet, but they could tell she was starting to be more comfortable. Emily got up and walked to her parents. She went up to Catherine and grabbed onto one of Catherine's belt loops on Catherine's shorts. Catherine had noticed that now that she was starting to get more comfortable with them, she had to have Catherine, Gil, or Lindsey, in view at all times. Catherine bent down to Emily, and the little girl put her arms around her neck.

"Are you ready to go swimming, Em?" She asked her daughter. They'd been talking the last few days about going to the Stokes to swim, and meeting Ava, and Emily was very excited, but very nervous.

"I don't know if I want to swim Catherine." Emily answered as Catherine picked her up.

"You don't have to swim if you don't want to, but I must say it's a lot of fun and Lindsey will be in the pool with you...if she ever comes down the stairs."

"Hurry up Lindsey." Emily said quietly, wishing she would finish already. A few seconds later, Lindsey walked down the stairs, dressed in a low-cut, skimpy tank top, too-tiny shorts, with her two piece bathing suit on underneath. Catherine took one look at her and said, "I don't think so. Go upstairs and change."

"Mom! Why?" She immediately moaned, stopping on the stairs.

"Because that barely covers you, Lindsey. I'm not letting you in public like that."

"But we're just going to the Stokes'! Everyone my age dresses like this."

"Lindsey." Catherine warned her daughter.

"Mom, you-" She was cut off by Gil.

"Lindsey, don't argue with your mother. Go change now." Lindsey glared at Gil and stomped up the stairs. Emily hated when people argued so she had long since buried her head in Catherine's hair.

"It's okay, Emily. We just want Lindsey to change. She'll just be a few more minutes." Catherine reassured the uneasy girl. She would have to have a word with Lindsey later about not arguing in front of Emily. She and Gil would have to be more careful also about arguing with their daughter in front of her also. Emily nodded and looked up as Lindsey came back down the stairs.

"Better?" She asked with an attitude. She was dressed in long shorts and a different tank-top, but this one wasn't as revealing.

"Better." Catherine said shortly, and started walking towards the garage.

As Lindsey started to follow her, Gil grabbed her arm and stopped her. Lindsey jerked back her arm and grumbled.

"What! I changed. Can't we go?"

"You need to adjust your attitude." Gil told her firmly, not wanting the day to be ruined by her attitude.

"I don't know what you're talking about Gil, my attitude is fine. Can we go already?" Lindsey asked frustrated. She turned to leave, and Gil tightened his grip.

"Drop it now, or you can just stay here, Lindsey Marie."

"Fine, okay I'll drop my attitude." Lindsey mumbled as she pulled her arm back. They walked out into the garage silently and got into the Tahoe. Emily was in her booster seat and Catherine was waiting in the passenger seat for them. Lindsey was silent most of the time, but at least she wasn't coming up with any more smart aleck answers. The family talked happily about the afternoon coming.

Ten minutes later they were pulling up in front of the Stokes' home. Lindsey got out and shut the door a little too loudly for Gil's liking and he quickly glared at her and pointed to the door. She sighed and opened the door and shut it again, quieter this time. Catherine shut her door and went to the back door.

She opened it and said, "We're here Emily!"

The little girl was looking around wondrously at this new surrounding. It looked nice enough, and she wanted to learn more about this swimming thing. Catherine lifted Emily out of her car seat and set her on the ground, and she quickly latched on to her mother's hand. The family of four walked up the front steps of the Stokes home, and could hear Ava squealing already in the pool from where they were. Before they could ring the doorbell Sara opened the door.

"Hey guys! Come on in!"

The family walked in and Sara and Catherine exchanged hugs. Sara was dressed in her bathing suit already, but had a tank top and shorts on over it. She greeted Lindsey and Gil warmly, and then gazed down at the adorable little girl holding Catherine's hand.

"And this must be Emily!" She said in a friendly tone. "My name is Sara, and I'm friends with Catherine and Gil."

"Sara is a really good friend of ours. Can you say hi to her Emily?" Catherine asked tugging on Emily's hand lightly.

"Hi Sara." Emily replied back softly after a few moments. Emily then turned her head behind Catherine's leg in an effort to hide.

"She's adorable." Sara commented, and Catherine and Gil both thanked her. Lindsey made her way towards the back door, just wanting to get away from her parents and have fun.

"I have someone you would like to meet." Sara went on. "My niece, Ava, is playing outside with my husband Nick."

"How about we go outside and meet them Emily?" Gil said looking at her from where she was hiding behind Catherine. Emily didn't say anything, and allowed Catherine to lead her outside, behind Sara. She tried to stay behind Catherine the best she could, because there were a lot of loud noises coming from the pool. They sounded like happy noises, but Emily couldn't be sure.

Catherine stopped, so Emily once again rested her head on her thigh, and caught her first glimpse of Ava. Ava caught sight of Emily and the girls stared at each other for a few moments. They eventually broke eye contact when Ava called to Lindsey, "Windsey! Come swim!"

Lindsey was already undressing, and her parents were dismayed to see her bathing suit. They definitely had not seen her wear this one before. The bottom cut to show too much, and the top seemed to barely cover her. Before they could comment, Lindsey was in the pool, swimming towards Ava. They were also disappointed that she had not waited for Emily to get in the water. Before they said anything though, Sara was walking to the pool and plucking Ava out to meet Emily. Nick soon followed.

"Ava, I want you to meet someone very special." Sara said kneeling next to her niece as she stood her in front of Emily. "This is Emily Grissom. She just came to live with Gil and Catherine. Can you say hello?"

"Hi Emiwy! Do you wike swimming?" Ava asked smiling big at Emily.

Emily looked at Ava and stared at her for a few moments before answering, "I've never been swimming before."

"It's fun! Come on!" Ava didn't understand, and she reached out and took Emily's hand. Emily was shocked by the move, and the dripping water coming off Ava, and quickly snatched her hand back. Ava didn't understand why Emily took back her hand and looked to Sara for an answer.

"She's a little nervous Ava, she's never met you before."

"I sowwy." Ava apologized whole-heartedly. Sara felt Nick's hand on her hip, and thought she should introduce him too, though he was dripping all over her. He knew exactly what he was doing too.

"Emily, this is my husband, Nick. He loves to swim too." Emily glanced at Nick and with Catherine's urging said a timid hello to him.

"Now that we have introduced everyone how about we swim for a bit then Grissom and I will fire up the BBQ?" Nick suggested rubbing his hands together obviously excited.

"That sounds like fun, doesn't it Emily?" Catherine tried to include Emily in all their decisions.

"Yeah." She said. Ava had been looking at Emily curiously ever since she'd snapped her hand back. The toddler held on to her aunt's hand, rocking back and forth on her feet.

"Emiwy want swim?" She asked again, keeping her hands to herself. Emily looked at Ava and saw how much fun they had in the pool and decided that she would try swimming for a little.

She turned to look at Catherine and said, "I want to try swimming for a little."

"Okay, sweetheart. Let's walk over to the shallow end, and get your armbands on." Catherine suggested. Lindsey had been swimming around in the pool ever since she'd hopped in, and seemed to be giving everyone the cold shoulder.

"Lindsey, will you help me with these armbands?" Catherine requested, calling across the pool. Lindsey was in the deep end, and disappeared back underwater to swim that way.

Nick and Gil had long since gone to go look at the meat they were going to barbeque. Sara was helping Ava put on more sunscreen under the patio to give Catherine, Lindsey, and Emily a little bit of privacy. Catherine and Lindsey both blew up one of the armbands, and Cath started to butter Emily up with sunscreen.

"Linds, will you get those armbands wet, so they'll slip on easily." She handed them to her daughter, who took them and let out a loud, dramatic, annoyed sigh. Catherine glared at her above Emily's head so that Emily would not see. Lindsey rolled her eyes and went to the edge of the pool and stuck the armbands into the water. She walked back over to where Catherine was kneeling beside Emily.

"I want to swim with Lindsey." Emily said holding out her arms so that Catherine could put on the armbands. Lindsey seemed happy that Emily wanted to swim with her instead of Catherine, and got back into the water. She stayed close to the built-in steps, and Catherine sat on the edge, Emily standing between her legs.

"Okay, Em. I want you to step down right here into the water. It will just come up about right here on your leg." Catherine estimated on her leg, as Lindsey watched carefully, ready to coax her little sister in.

Emily slowly put one leg in the water and got the feel of it before putting in her other leg. Emily smiled at the feeling of water on her legs.

"Do you want to come in further Emily?" Lindsey asked pushing her along.

"You can do it." Catherine encouraged her along. Emily nodded, Catherine keeping a hold on her hands, and she tentatively poker her toe down, and then took the next step.

"Good job, Emily!" Lindsey praised her. The water was now just above Emily's knees.

"Come on Emily one more step and the water will be at your waist." Lindsey told her encouraging her to come in further. Emily slowly put another leg down followed by the other. Emily smiled liking the feeling of the water at her waist.

"It's not cold." Emily said turning her head to look at Catherine.

"Good. It feels nice." Catherine agreed, splashing some water on her own legs. Lindsey reached out, as if offering to hold Emily. She accepted, and allowed Lindsey to set her on her hip.

"Is it okay if we go in a bit further? I promise I won't put you underwater." Lindsey asked Emily. Catherine had decided to get in with Sara who was getting in with Ava.

"Okay." Lindsey tightened her hold on Emily just in case, and bent her knees a little, letting the water surround their bodies. Emily looked curiously down at the water as it crept on her skin. It kind of felt like a bath, but better. And there was a whole lot more room to play. Suddenly, she smiled widely, proud of herself, and looked up at Gil and Nick, who had since sat down in chairs next to the pool.

"Gil! Look at me!" Gil peered over his sunglasses and smiled widely.

"Wow Emily! You're doing great. I'm so proud of you." Emily giggled as Lindsey went a bit further and the water was now up to Emily's chest. The cackling that filled the next few minutes warmed everyone's hearts, as Emily graduated to floating in the water, holding Lindsey's hand tightly. Lindsey spun her around gently.

Ava watched curiously at the other little girl. Emily was bigger than her, but Ava was already much more comfortable in the water. She doggie paddled closer to Emily, in arm bands also.

"You wike swimming?" Ava asked Emily who was floating in the water beside Lindsey.

"I like swimming." told her smiling.

"Bwow bubbles?" Ava asked Emily, a favorite pool activity with Nick. Emily only knew how to blow bubbles from a wand, so she was confused. "Wike this." Ava demonstrated, putting her face in the water, and blowing quite hard. Emily shook her head not comfortable with the idea of sticking her face in the water yet.

"It's fun!" Ava said urging Emily to try it.

"Ava, why don't you show her how to doggie paddle?" Came Nick's voice from the patio. Ava liked the idea and demonstrated the unrecognized stroke perfectly.

"See? Wike a doggy!" Ava proclaimed. Emily watched as Ava doggie paddled to the other side of the pool.

"Try it Emily. It's fun." Lindsey said urging her to try. Emily took a deep breath and started moving her arms and legs around the best she could. She was amazed that her body was moving in the water, just like Ava's had done. The look on her face displayed how proud and excited she was about this new hobby.

Emily doggy paddled for quite a while after that, and she and Ava were becoming fast friends. Nick and Gil, in the meantime, had been grilling burgers and hot dogs.

"So, Grissom, how's it going at home with Emily? She looks really happy." Nick told Gil as he flipped one of the burgers.

"Oh, it's been wonderful." Gil beamed. Nick was tickled for his friend, as he rarely full-out beamed. He could tell Gil loved this little girl with all his heart. "She's discovering new things all the time, and it's just so much fun to see. And she's so loving."

"That's awesome Griss. I'm happy for you guys." Nick said clamping a hand on Gil's shoulder. Sara and Catherine had meanwhile sat in the lounge chairs by the side of pool soaking up the sun. Lindsey was still playing with the girls, giving the parents time to relax. "Lindsey's great with the girls. Is she okay with the change?" Nick probed a little further.

Gil sighed and took a sip of his Pepsi. "Well to be honest, there are some days when she's fine and then days like today when her attitude is so bad that I don't even recognize her."

"Lindsey with a bad attitude?" Nick remarked sarcastically. "I can't imagine her ever been like that."

"Yeah, I don't know if it's so much the change with Emily. Earlier, we were arguing with her about her clothes. Just you wait until Ava gets older. She came downstairs wearing practically nothing, and she bought that swimsuit behind our backs."

Nick shook his head sighing. He glanced at the pool where he saw Ava squealing as Lindsey tickled her tummy. "I'm going to savor these years as much as I can."

"Yeah, make sure you do. I mean, I still love Lindsey with all my heart, but sometimes she frustrates me so much." Gil went on to explain.

Nick nodded, "That's expected. She'll figure out that you trying to correct her attitude is a way of loving her."

"I hope she finds out soon." Gil said sighing.

They were interrupted by a cry from the pool. Catherine was immediately on her feet and kneeling next to the edge, as Emily coughed.

Lindsey guided her over to her mother, explaining, "I think she tried to blow bubbles, and she accidentally breathed in." Catherine picked Emily up out of the pool and wrapped a towel around her daughter, hugging her close. Catherine nodded her head as she sat down in the lounge chair with Emily in her lap.

"You're okay baby. It's just water." It took a few minutes for her to calm down. Perhaps a little longer than normal then another child would take. Catherine knew trust would be hard to win over with Emily. They were getting so far with her, and she worried that the incident would hinder her progress. Not that anyone was to blame, but it had shaken Emily up quite a bit. She cried a little bit, as she lay on Catherine's body as she stroked her back. Catherine didn't mind that she was getting a little wet again.

Minutes later, the announcement came that dinner was ready.


	6. Chapter 6

"Are you hungry Emily?" Catherine asked stroking Emily's hair. Emily's tears had subsided to occasional sniffles.

"A little bit."

"Well then, we better go tell Gil to fix you a hamburger." Catherine told her smiling warmly at her. Emily let Catherine order for her, since she was still calming down from her shock. Catherine let her sit on her lap, and started putting various foods on two plates in front of them.

"Do you like potato chips?" Emily nodded at Catherine who put some chips on Emily's plate. "Doesn't that look yummy?" Catherine whispered in Emily's ear smiling.

Emily seemed to be much better now, as the others staggered joined them Catherine, Sara, and the two little girls sat on one side, with Gil, Nick and Lindsey on the other. Lindsey had wrapped a towel around her waist after drying off as best she could.

"Mom, will you pass the ketchup?" Catherine nodded and handed her the ketchup. Emily had moved from Catherine's lap to sit beside Ava on the bench. The young girls were happily munching on their hamburgers. The two families ate for a few minutes, sharing some friendly conversation. However, Gil started to notice that Lindsey had to frequently adjust her bathing suit top, as it seemingly kept slipping, and showing too much skin.

"Lindsey, where did you get that bathing suit?" Gil asked nonchalantly as he popped a chip into his mouth. Catherine didn't say anything, sensing this conversation was going to turn uncomfortable. She would let Gil handle this. Catherine knew he had a big problem with the way Lindsey wanted to dress.

"Gil, don't. Why does it matter?"

"It seems a bit too small. I think maybe you should take it back for a size bigger. Maybe you should put your tank-top back on?" Gil suggested quietly.

Lindsey was seething for Gil embarrassing her like that. She was quite proud of her body, and wanted to wear pretty clothes and bathing suits, and didn't see why it was such a big problem. It's not like there were any teenage boys around.

"If I put my top on, the water will leak through, and it'll look like I'm lactating."

"Then, pull your towel up to cover yourself." He suggested. Their conversation had been very quiet, between themselves. The Stokes had been talking to each other and Emily as the father and daughter had their argument.

"Why don't you go sh...?" Lindsey began to mutter. Gil didn't catch the end of the statement as Lindsey mumbled it far too quietly, but he had a feeling of what she was going to say.

"Meet me inside, now." He told Lindsey firmly. This was not the day to test Gil's patience.

Lindsey glared at Gil and mumbled, "Make me."

Catherine's eyes shot up and glared at her daughter. The girl sure had some nerve. She'd been dealing with Lindsey's attitude since she was a pre-teen, and still hadn't figured out how to rein it in. Gil abruptly stood up and tossed his napkin on the table. At her challenge, he firmly grabbed her by the upper arm and pulled her to her feet. Gil didn't want to yell at her in front of friends, but especially in front of Emily. He didn't want to scare her, and she already seemed skittish around males. Lindsey used her weight to try to stop, but she was no match as Gil pulled her towards the door.

When they got inside Gil took her into the living room. Lindsey stood with her arms crossed glaring at Gil.

"What Gil? Are you going to yell at me or lecture me on how bad of an attitude I have? You already did that this morning."

"Where do you get off talking to me like that? What is the matter with you?"

"Nothing is that matter. I don't know what you're talking about. You're the one who keeps complaining about everything I freakin' wear."

"That's because it's not appropriate for a sixteen year old. And I really don't like your attitude, young lady."

Lindsey rolled her eyes. "Whatever, can I go finish eating now? My food is getting cold."

"We're not done here. I better see you talking to your mother and I, and everyone else respectfully. Is that clear?"

Lindsey shrugged her shoulders.

"I asked you a question and I expect to hear an answer. Do I make myself clear?" Gil asked a little more louder and forcefully. Lindsey wasn't easily intimidated, and was very stubborn.

"Well I don't really have a choice, do I? Fine. I'll be perfectly civil. I just won't talk at all the rest of the meal, since I'm apparently so awful. And that doesn't mean I'm changing my clothes!"

"Good, don't talk. At least that way you won't be disrespectful. We are here to have a good time with the Stokes. If you speak one more time disrespectfully, don't think I won't pull you back in here." Gil warned her, pulling on her arm again to lead her outside.

They joined everyone else at the table and continued eating their dinner. Lindsey, as promised, didn't say a word as she continued eating her meal. Emily and Ava had retired to playing with a ball on the grass with the urging of Catherine and Sara. However, when Emily saw Gil sit down she noticed he looked sad. She debated on whether or not to go up to him. She decided not to right now, because it was her experience that when men were sad, they might lash out at her and get angry. She saw her mommy sit next to him and hold his held. Gil smiled a little at Catherine, but still looked down.

Emily and Ava played with the ball a little longer, but Emily grew tired of playing with the ball. Lindsey had gone to sit in a lounge chair to pout.

"What's up with Lindsey?" Nick asked his friends. Whoever understood teenage girls should be rewarded a billion dollars, he thought. Nick enjoyed Lindsey most of the time, but she was definitely temperamental sometimes.

"She's just decided that she was going to have a bad attitude today and be disrespectful." Gil said keeping his arm around Catherine.

"So she's just moping now?" Sara asked, as Nick pulled her a little closer.

"Yeah. I had a few harsh words for her earlier, and so now she's giving me the cold shoulder."

"Well her loss, not yours." Sara replied to Grissom. Emily walked over to the table and grabbed onto Catherine's arm tugging on it.

"Catherine, Ava won't share the ball with me." She sadly reported, sitting on her lap.

"Ava!" Nick called from the table. "I'll fix that little lady." Nick said winking at Emily.

Nick walked over to where Ava was playing with the ball and sat down. Ava was running around, and so he caught her and pulled her into his lap.

"Ava Elizabeth, where'd your buddy go?"

Ava shrugged. "Don't know."

"She's over at the table, sad because you won't share the ball with her." Nick told her as she pulled up grass.

"It's my baww." She told him. Nick kissed her head as he patiently explained,

"Well, we share our toys with other kids, as long as they treat our toys nicely. Now you don't have anyone to play with."

"She no pway with me no more?" Ava asked looking up at Nick tearfully.

"Not if you don't share. I bet if you go apologize, she'll play with you again." He explained. Ava looked over at her friend, who had been watching her. She noticed the way Ava interacted with Nick. Nick seemed like a nice man, and Ava wasn't afraid of him. She wondered why her foster daddy wasn't like that. Was Gil like that?

Ava got up, grabbed the ball, and ran over to the table. "Emiwy! Emiwy! Pway baww!"

Nick looked on proudly at his niece. She was starting to make some big strides in her behavior, though she got a time out almost daily still. Ava was such a loving little girl, and so was Emily. Nick had a feeling the girls would fast become friends.

The girls ran off and played together on the grass and Nick wandered back over to the table. The adults continued to talk for another hour or so when Nick noticed that Ava was starting to get cranky.

Nick turned to his wife and whispered in her ear. "The munchkin's getting kinda crabby. Do you want me to put her down?" He asked Sara, gently stroking her arm.

Sara nodded to Nick, "If you could. Thanks Nick." She gave him a light kiss and turned back to finish talking to Catherine.

Gil watched as Nick took a now crying Ava into the house. He looked back at his own tantrum-throwing daughter. At sixteen, she was harder to get through to. Her tantrums were of course not so obvious. Lindsey now just flat-out refused to do things, and talked back. Gil longed for the days when Lindsey was sweet and giggly, but knew this was just a phase.

"Maybe it's time to go home Gil." Catherine suggested putting her hand on Gil's leg.

"That sounds good. I think Emily's getting tired, and Lindsey..." Gil glanced back at the still pouting teen, "Well, she's ready to leave."

They stood up and Catherine called Emily over, who happily came running. "It's time to go back home Emily. Can you say goodbye to Sara and thank her for letting you go swimming?" Catherine asked bending down to eye level with Emily.

Emily thanked Sara politely. "Where's Ava?" She asked.

"She had to go to bed because she was getting cranky." Sara reminded her. The parents didn't realize they hadn't gotten to say goodbye, but knew they'd be together again soon.

Nick came back outside just as the Grissoms were packing up their things.

"Thanks so much for coming over, guys. We all had a great time, especially Ava." He said, looking down at Emily.

"I had fun with Ava. I want to play with her again." Emily told Nick smiling.

"I know she wants to play with you too. We'll have to get together again soon."

"That would be great, wouldn't it, Emily?" Catherine commented, stroking her daughter's hair gently. Emily again hugged her mother's leg, feeling safer and safer every day. The Grissoms bid their goodbyes to the Stokes. Lindsey gave a half wave and got into the backseat, still sulking. Catherine buckled Emily into her car seat and got into the passenger seat. Gil got into the driver seat, started the car and soon they were on their way home. The ride home was relatively quiet as the family was winding down from its busy, fun day.

When they arrived home, Lindsey immediately went up to her room, not wanting any further discussion of the day's events. Gil and Catherine sighed at each other, not knowing what to do about Lindsey's antics.

"Emily, baby, why don't you go to the restroom and I'll be there in a minute to give you a bath." Catherine suggested to her daughter. Emily nodded and ran off up the stairs.

"What do you think we should do about Lindsey?" She asked her husband.

"Will grounding her even help?" Gil asked rubbing his face with his hands. "She won't listen to me."

"I don't know, Gil. We don't ground her that often, so I think it sends her a message. We can do it together, so she knows we're a team. If that's what you think we should do."

"I think we need to do something, because she was very disrespectful today. How about after you give Emily her bath and get her situated we talk to Lindsey together?" Gil suggested.

"Okay. How long are we grounding her for?" Catherine asked, starting to walk towards the stairs. Gil followed behind her.

"How about a week?"

"Okay." She turned to kiss her husband, and they both climbed the stairs together. Gil went into the master bedroom to change and take his own shower (taking care not to use all the hot water), and Catherine joined Emily in the other bathroom.

Catherine sat down on the edge of the tub and turned on the warm water. She let the water run for a little fiddling with the temperature. When she felt that it was just right she plugged the tub and let it fill up. Catherine turned back to her daughter. Her last few baths had been a little nerve-wrecking for the girl. She seemed to have a bit of a problem with bath time, and Catherine suspected bad things had happened to her at her foster home.

"Okay, Em. Let's get some of that chlorine off you." Emily looked at Catherine and at the water then back at Catherine. Emily nervously approached Catherine so that she could help her remove her clothing. Catherine talked soothingly to Emily as she helped her undress, making sure not to make any sudden movements or touch her anywhere but her arms.

"Up we go." She said, picking the girl up by her armpits and setting her in the warm water. Catherine knelt down beside the tub and grabbed the 'tear free' shampoo. She put some in her hand and rubber her hands together. "I'm going to put the shampoo in your hair no sweetie. Okay?"

Emily sat quietly while Catherine washed her hair. When she was done lathering, Emily asked a question that Catherine hadn't even thought about.

"Catherine, is Gil nice?" Catherine looked down at Emily's face as she pondered how to answer that.

"Well sweetie, Gil is probably one of the nicest men you'll meet. He truly cares for you baby."

"Does he yell and hit people?" Emily asked, and it broke Catherine's heart. She knew Gil would have to be more than careful around Emily. He couldn't raise his voice around Emily, or it might send her to tears.

"Absolutely not. He wouldn't hurt anyone. He won't yell at you sweetie and I promise you, he won't hit you either." Catherine answered tucking some of Emily's hair behind her ear.

"Are you sure?" Emily asked timidly. It was still hard for her to trust people.

"I promise. Cross my heart." Catherine displayed the motion. Emily nodded and started to play with her toes. Emily seemed to ease up a little the rest of the bath, and played happily with the toys that were there.

Catherine soon took her out, wrapping a big towel around her body, and helped her dry. Then, she carried her to her bedroom and helped her change into fresh underwear and pajamas. Catherine brushed out her hair while they were in there and was pulling back the covers on the bed when there was a knock on the door. Gil waited for Catherine to say come in. Catherine pulled the covers up to Emily's chin and kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight, Emily. I love you." She cooed gently, and Gil put his hand on her back supportively. Emily looked at Catherine and put her arms around Catherine's neck.

"I love you too." She whispered. Catherine felt tears stinging at her eyes, as that was the first time Emily had spoken those words. She hugged her daughter tightly and then let her husband do the same. Emily didn't say 'I love you' to Gil, but she did hug him tightly for the first time since she had come. She was warming up to him slowly, and he would let her continue to do so at her own pace. The parents shut the light off and again left the door open a crack to let the light in.

Gil pulled Catherine in for a hug and a kiss. They knew what was next - talking to Lindsey. She wasn't quite as cute and cuddly as Emily was at the moment. They pulled apart and knocked on Lindsey's door.

From inside the bedroom Lindsey rolled her eyes and yelled, "Come in!"

She figured she was due for yet another lecture. Gil and Catherine entered the teenager's bedroom, who lying on her back reading a magazine. She had since changed into a pair of Soffe shorts and a decent t-shirt, which made her parents slightly happy.

"What?"

"We need to talk Lindsey." Catherine told her. Lindsey rolled her eyes.

"Of course we do."

"Lindsey, don't start with the attitude again." Gil warned her straight away, as he sat at her desk chair, and Catherine sat on her bed.

"So what do guys want now? Gonna tell me you're adopting again?" Lindsey asked bitterly. Gil was about to reprimand her again, but Catherine spoke.

"No, Lindsey. Thank you. We're here to discuss just you. And your horrible attitude today. We were all excited about having a fun day with the Stokes, and your behavior was a big disappointment."

"Well I'm just an awful child aren't I? Chalk it up to Dad's genes and let's just forget it ever happened."

"Lindsey, stop." Catherine told her. "You are not an awful child. Gil and I love you very much, and we don't want to stand by and watch your life take a turn for the worse. We've been worried about how your dad's death affected you. It's okay to miss him, but it's not okay to lash out at us like you have been."

Lindsey shrugged. "Whatever."

Lindsey turned away from Gil and Catherine to face the wall. Catherine and Gil looked at each other and sighed. It was obvious she was still upset, but that didn't excuse her behavior. She missed her dad so much, and she was feeling more and more suffocated around her parents.

"Lindsey we can't excuse this behavior, so you are grounded for the next week. You go to school and come home directly after school." Gil told her firmly.

"That's not fair! What about band practice!" Lindsey yelled sitting up.

"You can go to band practice after school, but after that, you come straight home. And we know what days of the week you practice, so don't try anything." Gil explained further.

Lindsey looked furious. She looked at her mother in question. Gil had never actually grounded her before, and she wasn't happy. "You can't ground me."

"Lindsey, listen to Gil. He has every right to ground you." Catherine told her quietly and firmly.

"Why?" Lindsey started crying. "He's not my father! He wasn't around when I was growing up! And what did I do to deserve getting grounded?"

"Lindsey, you were disrespectful to both me and Gil, even after we warned you several times. For the last three years, four if you count the year we dated, Gil has always been there for you no matter what and you know that." Catherine told her sternly.

"Jerks." Lindsey muttered under her breath. Catherine and Gil looked at her with their mouths open.

"Two weeks, no band practice." Catherine said getting up from the bed and leaving the room.

"But, mom! The director will be mad at me if I'm not there!" She whined, kneeling on her bed.

"Well, you should have thought of that before you ran your mouth." Catherine snapped back. "You can call him later on and explain why you won't be there."

"I hate you and you." She said turning to look at Gil. "You're both ruining my life! Get out of my room!" Lindsey screamed.

It took everything Gil had not to yell something back at her, and he turned and left the room behind Catherine. They closed the door and immediately collapsed on to the wall beside each other, the sounds of their very upset daughter sobbing in the next room. "That wasn't fun." Gil said. Catherine didn't respond with words. She instead responded with a sob. Catherine crouched over and put her hand over her face.

"Cath..." Gil said sympathetically. "Don't cry, sweetheart. She's just going through a rough time."

Catherine sobbed, "That doesn't make it any easier."

"I know, sweetheart." He kissed his wife's temples lovingly. "Let's go to bed, okay? Tomorrow's another day." The couple walked into their bedroom thinking of how better tomorrow was going to be.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6: **

It was a sound that Catherine hadn't heard in about ten years, and that Gil had never before heard - they awoke to the sound of a small child crying. Catherine noticed first, and immediately got out of her bed, and Gil soon followed. They quickly walked down the hall to Emily's bedroom.

Before they could go in Lindsey came out of her room and asked, "What the hell is going on? It's two in the freakin' morning?"

"Lindsey, keep your voice down." Catherine whispered harshly. "Just stay in your room. We'll take care of it."

They quickly entered Emily's room to find her sitting up in bed, bawling her eyes out. "Baby, are you okay?" Catherine asked turning Emily's touch lamp on low and sitting beside her on the bed.

"Nooooo..." She sobbed, reaching her arms out to Catherine. When Emily shifted, Catherine saw that she had wet the bed. She tried not to act grossed out. She dealt with gross stuff all the time, and she was a mother. Catherine turned her head and told Gil quietly that she'd wet the bed. Gil sighed and looked over at Catherine as she tried to comfort Emily as best she could given the circumstances.

"Why don't you change her then bring her into our room and I'll talk to her. While I talk to her you can change the sheets?" Gil suggested.

"Okay Gil." Catherine kissed Emily's forehead before beginning. "Sweetheart, I think you had an accident." Catherine acknowledged, and for some reason, this sent the four year old awol.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to! Don't hit me!" She cried out, frightened to death. Catherine looked over at Gil worriedly.

"Sweetheart, I would never ever hit you, neither would Gil. You had an accident, meaning you didn't mean for it to happen. It's not your fault sweetie." Catherine whispered to Emily trying to offer reassurance. Emily spent the next few moments trying to compose herself as Catherine gently stroked her hair and back.

"What do you say you and I go into the bathroom and clean you up?" She suggested. Emily nodded meekly, and Catherine lifted her gently out of bed, setting her on the floor. She rubbed at her eyes as she let her mother lead her into the bathroom. Gil walked over to Emily's dresser and got out a fresh pair of underwear and a new pair of pajamas for Emily to wear. He went out into the hallway to the closed bathroom door and knocked on it.

"Yes?" His wife's voice answered.

"I'm just going to leave these outside the door." He told Catherine, not wanting to intrude. "And I'll go change her bed."

"Okay, thanks, Gil." Gil turned around to see Lindsey poking her head out the door again.

"What is going on? People are trying to sleep." Lindsey asked irritated.

"Lindsey, have a bit of a heart, please." Gil told her gently. "Emily had an accident, and I think a nightmare. We're taking care of it. Do you need something?"

"No, just keep it down." Lindsey said shutting her door forcefully. Gil sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. He went to the linen closet and pulled out some sheets to remake Emily's bed. Gil quickly stripped off the soiled sheets and took them downstairs to the washing machine immediately, making sure to use lots of soap. He started it up, and then went back upstairs, quickly putting the new sheets on.

Soon, he heard the bathroom door open again, and his wife's voice soothing their daughter. Emily was still crying complete with hiccups and short breaths. Gil walked out into the hallway to go help Catherine with their daughter.

"Sweetheart, I'm going to go wash my hands and then check on the laundry. Will you be okay talking to Gil?" She asked gently, hoping she was comfortable enough to go with her husband. Catherine suspected that Gil hadn't started the washer correctly.

"Wi...Will yo...you come ba…back?" Emily asked crying in her arms.

"Of course." Catherine told her, kissing her face several times, and wanting to squeeze her so tight. The little girl was so scared, and Catherine was going to make sure she was never scared again.

"Okay." Emily sniffed, taking Gil's larger hand. Her fingers only fit around two of his, and Gil delighted in the feeling of holding fingers with the four year old.

"Do you want to go back into your room sweetheart?" Gil asked Emily as he bent down to be eye level with her.

"No, don't wanna go in there." She cried a little bit. Gil almost panicked, left with girl for the first time alone. But, he handled it like a pro. "It's okay, Emily. We don't have to go back in yet. Would you like to lie on mine and Catherine's bed for a while and talk?"

"Uh huh." Emily answered still crying.

"Okay sweetheart." Gil said leading them into his and Catherine's bedroom.

He gently lifted her up on the bed and sat down on the bed beside her, but not touching her. He wanted her to be the first one to initiate contact.

"Are you feeling a little better now?" Gil started off. He'd talked to children at crime scenes before, but this was different. Gil got to be so emotionally intimate with his new daughter, and he could feel his love growing for her every day.

"A little." She said, turning to lie on her stomach.

"I bet having fresh pjs feels better. Did you have a bad dream?"

Emily nodded tearfully and Gil saw her thumb hovering near her mouth. Trying to get her to not stick her thumb in her mouth and to find out what her dream was about Gil probed deeper.

"Do you want to tell me about your dream sweetie?"

"There was an ugly purple monster chasing me in Wal-Mart." Emily told him right off the bat. Gil was surprised that she so easily spilled this to him. It took Catherine a lot of coaxing to get information out of her.

"Oh yeah? What did the monster do?"

"Bad things." Emily muttered.

"What kinds of bad things sweet pea?" Gil asked thinking this dream was from the affects of a bad foster home. Emily took a little longer to answer him this time.

"He hitted me and called me names." She admitted. Emily surprisingly moved to hug Gil, her body draping over his chest. She laid her head down on his shoulder, and Gil finally put his arm around her. He was ecstatic that Emily was finally comfortable showing affection towards him. Gil knew that was a big step for her. He gently shooshed her as she cried a little more.

"Did anything else happen in the dream?" Emily nodded, but took a few moments to answer.

"He tooked you and Catherine and then I had to go back to the bad place!" Emily cried.

"Where's the bad place?" Gil probed, rubbing her back gently. Catherine had since come back and found the pair cuddling on their bed. She was touched by the sight, and thrilled that she was bonding with Gil. Emily didn't answer, and just kept crying, allowing Gil to hold her tight and stroke her back. Catherine moved to sit on the bed beside the two, but didn't say anything.

"Sweetheart where is the bad place?" Gil asked again softer this time.

"The Jenkins..." Emily muttered sobbing. Catherine and Gil shared a knowing glance. They suspected that some awful things had happened at that house that would taint Emily for a long time. They wouldn't push her now to tell what had happened, because they just wanted her to calm down and get back to sleep. Catherine and Gil just layed on the bed with Emily between them for quite a while. Soon, Gil was asleep, with the little girl still draped part way on his chest, and Catherine just sat watching, wanting to heal this little girl, and knowing she and Gil were going to do their very best.

CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI

"Be good for Nick while I'm gone. I want a happy report about you when I get home from work, okay Ava?" Sara told the toddler as she bent down to kiss her goodbye. Ava barely moved her eyes from the television show she was watching, lightly patting her aunt on the back as a make-shift hug. Sara laughed a little at how into the show she was, but at least it had been a good morning. She and Nick had been taking a lot more time off lately to help Ava adjust to her new home, and it was her turn to head into work after a few days off together. Sara kissed Nick goodbye before leaving out the door.

"All right Miss Ava, how about some breakfast?"

"After Scooby." Ava told him, keeping her eyes on the screen. Nick looked at the clock, and there were only ten minutes left, so he decided to let her.

"Okay, ten more minutes of TV. What do you want to eat, so I can get it ready?"

"Pancakes." Ava answered still not taking her eyes from the show.

"Sweetheart, I'm not making pancakes today." Nick told her, knowing that was her favorite breakfast, but he didn't want to go to the trouble. "What kind of cereal do you want?"

Ava sighed, "Twix."

Nick got her cereal ready to go and set it on the table, but waited to put on the milk until the show was over. When the credits came on, Nick turned the television off, or he knew she'd be watching over her shoulder.

"Alright, time for breakfast." He announced.

"Yay!"

"Yay is right. Come on, come to the table and eat." Nick told her. Ava jumped up from the floor and ran into the dining room and attempted to get in her booster seat by herself.

"Goober." Nick teased her when she didn't succeed. He picked her up and placed her on the booster seat.

"Milk!" She demanded.

"Say please, Ava."

"Milk! Pwease!" Ava told Nick as she stuck her spoon in the air. Nick poured the milk onto the Trix cereal, and then went back into the kitchen to clean up. Ava munched happily for several minutes, though she was a little loud. She didn't try any funny business with her food, thankfully, and announced when she was done. Nick walked back into the dining room to see that she had indeed finished her cereal.

"All right Ava, finished with breakfast. Now we can go get you dressed to start the day and we can go to the grocery store and buy food." Nick made sure that Ava had her Pull Ups on today, as he didn't want a repeat of the embarrassing occurrence at Hyperactive House. He buckled Ava into her car seat and off they went to the grocery story. Ava sang sweetly along to a country song that played on the radio.

About ten minutes later they were at the grocery store and Nick took her out of her car seat. He carried her inside and then set her down in the child seat of his cart. Ava was looking around at everything as Nick started to push her through the store. The first stop was the vegetables, then the meat counter. Nick couldn't help but notice some of the women ahhing at the sight of a father taking his child grocery shopping. After getting vegetables and meat he went down the bread aisle, which just happened to give Ava sight of the candy aisle.

"Candy! Nick! Candy!" Ava told him trying to get out of the cart.

"Ava, you need to sit back down." Nick gently pulled on her legs and eased her bottom back down on the seat. "Remember, we only eat candy on Saturdays. And it's not Saturday."

Ava whined, "Candy...Nick...Candy!" Nick quickly picked out the bread and went to the other side of the store to pick up marinade for the meat. Nick thought that Ava would cool down once the candy was out of sight, but she kept chanting, "Candy, candy, candy." Hey, they didn't call it terrible twos for nothing.

Nick tried his best to ignore it as he moved to the drink aisle, but finally it was too much.

"Ava, you need to stop asking for candy, or you'll be in time out when we get home."

"Uh huh. No time-out. Candy!" Ava told Nick as she once again tried to get out of the cart.

"Ava, what did I tell you? Stay in the cart." He reiterated, his voice becoming firmer. When Ava saw the look on his face, she settled back in the cart, but started to whine and whimper.

"Ava, big girls don't whine or throw fits." Nick reminded her as he put Pepsis in the cart. Sometimes reminding her of what big girls do got her back on track, but it didn't seem to work today.

The next few minutes got Nick more and more irritated. He told Ava she'd be in time out for five minutes when they got home, but it didn't seem to faze her, as she kept whining and whining for candy and grabbing at cookies and junk food. Nick was more than ready to leave as he wheeled the cart into a check out aisle. Nick soon realized that he should have checked the aisle before going down it. Ava soon saw the candy lining the aisle as he loaded the groceries on the belt for check-out. Ava reached out and grabbed a Snickers bar and would not give it back.

"Ava Elizabeth Sidle, you are not getting any candy today." Nick easily pried the candy bar out of her tiny fist and set it back in the container, but Ava reached out again, grabbing a bag of Skittles.

"No, Ava. Give it to me. We do not grab." Nick told her as he tried to get the candy away from her hands which were going all over the place.

"Nooooo...I wan' Skittas!" Ava yelled. She tried to rip the Skittles bag open, but her hands couldn't do it. She threw them on the floor and crossed her arms.

"Ava, I'm not very happy with your behavior right now." Nick told her. The look on his face would have frightened any suspect, but Ava didn't seem to care.

Ava stared at Nick and said in a smart aleck voice, "Nick, I no wike your bewav...bewavior eider." Nick ignored her for a few moments.

"This stupid! I don't wike you Nick!" She yelled as the check out girl started scanning his items. Nick ignored her as he scanned his card to pay for the groceries.

Ava turned to look at Nick and said something she had heard her Aunt Sara say on the phone yesterday, "Scwou you."

"That is it, Ava Elizabeth." Nick said angrily. The check out girl thanked him and handed Nick his receipt, whincing a little at the overwhelmed parent, as the bag boy packed his groceries into the cart. When they were out of ear shot, Nick delivered the news that Ava had never heard before. "When we get to the car, you are getting spanked."

"What's spanked mean?" Ava asked a little frightened.

"It's when children who are not well behaved get smacked on their bottoms." Nick informed her, pushing the cart quickly out of the building and over the crosswalk. Ava contemplated what he was telling her. She'd seen other little girls and boys get hit on the bottom, and they always cried and cried. It didn't look fun at all. Ava looked up at Nick to see if he was serious. When Ava looked up at Nick she saw Nick was very serious.

"No spank Ava!" She said tearfully.

"It's too late." Nick told her. "You had chances to start being a good girl, but you kept screaming for candy, and then you were awful in line."

They got to the car and Nick hurried up and put the groceries in the back of the Tahoe. Nick then quickly took Ava out of the cart and kept a hold of her arm, kneeling down to her level.

"You said very mean things to me. You don't speak that way to adults, or kids." Ava listened to his explanation, and then started crying more.

"No..." She whined deeply. "Nick, no!" The toddler pleaded as a last resort, but he was far past considering backing out. Plus, Ava needed to learn that if he said something, that's what happened. Her apologies would not help. She squirmed against him as he turned her and gave her four firm swats to the bottom.

Ava immediately started sobbing, and started pleading "I wan Sawa! You mean Nick!" Nick picked her up and set her in her car seat. Even though she had on a pair of Pull-Ups, she still felt a sting on her bottom, and was not at all happy about it.

"Sara would have done the same thing. Your behavior was horrible, Ava." Nick hurried up and put her in her car seat. "You mean!" Ava pushed Nick away as he tried to put her in her car seat.

"I love you, Ava, that's why I won't let you behave like that. If you do that again, you'll get the same thing." He told her matter-of factly. Nick easily held her arms down so he could buckle Ava in, who cried in protest the whole time. Ava cried the whole way home and told Nick that she didn't like him the whole way home. Nick was hurt that Ava was saying those things about him, but he kept telling himself was just a temporary reaction. He told Sara all the time that Ava was just kidding when she said that she hated her. But now, Nick understood just how much it hurt to have your own child tell you they hate you. Nick started second-guessing his decision. Had he done the right thing? Did he hurt her? Did the other people who may have witnessed the event think he was a horrible father?

Nick sighed as he pulled into the driveway and parked the cars. Ava's crying had turned into sniffles and when Nick went to get her out of the car she pushed him away. Nick took the tantrum that she presented, squirming and pushing against him as he carried her inside. He took her straight to her bedroom and put her on her bed.

"Ava, you sit there for time-out. You do not move from your bed. When I can see you're calmed down, we'll talk." Ava cried as he shut the door and went outside to go get the groceries.

Nick didn't realize how worked up he still was until he realized he was practically throwing the groceries away. He knew that he and Sara had discussed the possibility of spanking a few days ago, but he wasn't sure how she would react. Nick finally stopped, and rubbed his hands over his face, leaning back against the counter. Nick knew that when Sara got home he was going to have to tell her what happened. Nick sighed and listened to hear if Ava was still crying. He decided to give her a few more minutes, and when he finished putting the groceries away, he just laid down on the couch and rested his mind. Nick sighed and tried to figure out how to talk to Ava after she had calmed down.

CSI CSI CSI CSI

Lindsey didn't feel very well rested the next morning when she walked apathetically out her room towards the bathroom. Her mother was in there cleaning the toilet already, so she had to go use the master bedroom's bathroom. When she walked into the bedroom she looked over and saw Emily asleep halfway on Grissom. Lindsey growled to herself and stomped over to the bathroom. She shut the door a little louder than necessary, and it startled the sleeping pair awake. Emily whimpered a little bit and was about to cry when Gil gently shooshed her.

"It's okay, Em. It's just Lindsey." Emily sat up and rubbed her eyes, and Gil noticed a drool spot on his shirt. "You feeling better this morning?" Gil asked Emily rubbing Emily's head affectionately.

"I'm still tired." She admitted.

Gil kissed her hair and sat up also. "Are you? Well, you can always take a nap later. How about we go get some cereal?" Emily nodded as she slowly slid off the bed.

"Where's Catherine?" Emily asked softly.

"I don't know, Em. Let's go see if we can find her." Emily happily skipped down the hall and quickly found Catherine in the bathroom. Seeing that she was okay with Catherine now, Gil proceeded down the stairs to get bowls ready. As he was setting the table, Lindsey came down the stairs not looking to happy or rested, and turned MTV on loud. Gil went into the living room and turned off the TV.

"Breakfast is ready go eat and then get ready for school." Gil said firmly.

"I don't think I'll be able to stay awake, thanks to Emily." Lindsey commented, more irritated than usual. First, she'd been grounded for two weeks, and on top of that her new whiny sister who she didn't even want in the first place woke her up multiple times throughout the night.

"Well, you're just going to have to try extra hard, now won't you? Breakfast. Eat. Now." Gil said firmly. Lindsey really didn't like the way her morning was going. Who did Gil think he was, speaking to her like this? She got up with as much attitude as possible, storming over the table.

Emily and Catherine came into the dining room a few moments later. Catherine helped Emily into a chair so that she could eat her breakfast.

"Do you have a ride to school this morning or do you need a ride?" Catherine asked as she handed Emily her spoon.

"Evan's picking me up today." Lindsey told them, of her punk and very male best friend. The guy had a Jeep, and drove like a bat out of hell. Lindsey knew they wouldn't approve.

Catherine sighed and suggested, "Why don't I drive you to school this morning instead?"

"Fine." Lindsey stuffed the cereal into her mouth, not wanting to argue any more with her parents. Emily ate her cereal quietly. She was afraid of making anyone angry, especially after what happened last night.

"What would you like to do today Emily?" Catherine asked turning to Emily and sweetly caressing Emily's cheek with a finger.

"I don't care." She said, wanting Catherine to decide for her. "Maybe we could call Ava and see if she can go play at the park today." Emily nodded her head.

"I like the park."

"I think we need to go grocery shopping today also." Gil told Catherine. "We're running out of food to feed these hungry kids."

"Okay, well I'll call the Stokes and see if they're free. I can go shop if you want to play with Emily at the park with Nick. Would you like that, Emily?"

"Can you come to the park too Catherine?" Emily asked quietly.

"I need to go buy groceries, but I'll come join you when I'm done." Catherine promised her daughter. Lindsey rolled her eyes. Emily nodded. She wanted to have both Gil and Catherine with her today after the horrible dream she had last night. Grissom glared at Lindsey from over the newspaper and shook his head slightly.

"I'm going to go get ready for school." Lindsey said shoving her chair back and stomping up the stairs. Gil contemplated calling Lindsey on her attitude again, but decided not to since she was about to head to school.

"Is Windsey mad?" Emily asked her parents, not liking any ill feelings amongst her family members.

"Lindsey's just in a bad mood this morning. Don't worry about it sweetheart." Catherine told her smiling. The family finished getting ready. Lindsey soon came back downstairs, and didn't even try to push anything scantily this morning, and she and Catherine got into the Tahoe.

Nick was shaken out of his thoughts when the phone rang. "Hello?" he answered.

"Hey Nick, it's Grissom."

"Hey, what's up?"

"I'm taking Emily to the park here in a little while, and wondered if you'd like to join us. Emily hasn't stopped talking about Ava." Nick sighed and debated on what he should say.

"You know what Gris, this morning hasn't been too good and Ava isn't in the best mood. I don't think it'd be a good idea to have them play together." Gil could tell Nick was a little shaken up and sounded upset, after working with him for so many years.

"Nick, what happened?" "I had to spank Ava for the first time this morning. She was so disrespectful. She was whining the whole time we were in the store and she told me 'screw you' in the grocery store because I wouldn't let her have candy." Nick answered sighing.

Gil let out a deep breath, knowing how temperamental children could be just from his interactions with Lindsey. Emily hadn't misbehaved at all yet while she was with them, and feared the day they would have to discipline her. "And you'd never done that before?" Gil asked.

"No, Sara and I just recently discussed it and we were only going to spank her when she absolutely deserved it. This morning Ava deserved it, yet somehow I still feel horrible over this whole situation."

"Nicky, you can't beat yourself up over this. If that's what you and Sara decided, then you shouldn't feel bad about it. It sounds like she did deserve it, if she's trying to throw tantrums and being disrespectful."

"Yeah I know. Later this week we'll take both girls to the park." Nick told Grissom.

"Yeah, sounds good. Take care Nick." Nick bided Grissom goodbye and set down the phone deciding now was the time to go talk to Ava.


	8. Chapter 8

Nick realized Ava had probably been in her room for a good half hour, which was the longest she'd ever been left. He knocked on her door before entering like he always did, but didn't get an answer this time. He turned the knob, and it was locked.

"Ava? It's Nick. Open up, please."

Ava looked up from where she as seated on her bed and told Nick, "Uh huh. You gonna spank me again."

"Ava, I'm not going to spank you. Open the door." He turned the knob again, and it was still locked. Nick listened closely, and thought he heard tiny footsteps inside. Ava walked to the door and debated whether or not to open it. Ava choose to open it. She hurried up and unlocked it and ran back to the bed and curled up in the corner of her bed.

Nick opened the door slowly and was a little upset to see that Ava was almost cowering on her bed. He had a feeling she was playing this up a little more than necessary, another one of her tests. And he was going to prove to her that he did love her, and that's why he wouldn't let her throw tantrums and be disrespectful. Nick went over to the bed and sat down beside Ava.

"Ava can I talk to you?" She further buried her head in her hands and cried a little. "Ava, it's over. You need to calm down. That's why I sent you to your room. I'd like to talk to you about what happened." Ava peered through her hands and saw that Nick's face was full of love. She looked up and nodded her head.

"Good. Would you like to sit on my lap?" He asked her, hoping she would. Sitting snugly in Nick's arms was one of Ava's most favorite places in the whole world, and she was quickly won over. She crawled into his lap, and Nick wrapped his arms around her, kissing her head.

"I was bad today." Ava told Nick softly. Nick was surprised that Ava had chosen to start the conversation, but went with it proudly.

"And how were you bad today?"

"I didn't wisten to you. I gwabbed candy." Ava muttered.

"You're right. I didn't like it when you started doing those things. But do you know what hurt me the most?" Ava shook her head no.

"When you said mean things to me. It hurt my feelings." Ava turned her head to look at Nick.

"Ava hurt feewings?"

"Yes you did, Ava." Nick admitted. Two year olds were not very fair fighters, he figured out.

"Grown ups get hurt feelings too. It made me sad to think you didn't love me." Nick told her as he stroked her hair affectionately.

"I wove Nick. I sorry." Ava told him, reaching up to his neck to hug him.

"Thank you, Ava. I love you too. Do you understand why I had to spank you?" Nick asked wanting to make sure the young girl understand. Ava nodded and answered.

"I was vewy bad."

"Well, you're not a bad girl." Nick clarified. "But your behavior was bad. We don't throw tantrums to get what we want, and we don't say mean things to people just because we're upset." Ava nodded.

"I twy and be better. I sowwy I made you sad Nick."

"I'm glad you understand, Ava." Nick kissed her head again and hugged her tight. They had gotten through her first spanking, and it seemed to work well with her. He'd gotten her attention and Ava seemed to understand why her behavior was unacceptable. Nick let her out of her room, and she played quietly and happily with her uncle. He knew Sara would be coming home for her lunch hour soon.

Sara Stokes pulled into the driveway of her home after a long, but good day of work. She was always so glad to be home to see Nick and Ava. Sara hardly ever got to see Nick at work any more, because one of them always tried to stay at home with Ava, to avoid putting her in daycare. Sara smiled softly as she got out of the car and walked to the front door. She opened the door and threw her keys in the basket by the door. She heard Ava in the kitchen with Nick, who was more than likely cooking dinner. When she looked, Ava had tomato paste all over her face from putting meatballs together with Nick. She just stood and watched the pair together for a moment. They were so adorable together, and Nick was turning out to be a wonderful father.

"That one good?" Ava asked Nick of the meatball she'd just created.

"You're teaching her how to make meatballs in my kitchen?" Sara asked jokingly from the doorway of the kitchen.

"Sawa!" Ava squealed. Ava was standing on a step stool so she could reach, and Nick grabbed her arm before she could jump off and get sauce all over his wife.

"Whoa, whoa, baby. Stay right here. Sara will still be there when we clean you up." He glanced up at his wife, smiling. "Don't worry, baby, we won't give you any meatballs on your spaghetti."

Sara smiled. "You better not cowboy."

Nick smirked as he wiped off Ava's face with a paper towel wet with water. When Ava was relatively clean, Nick helped her off the stool, and she ran happily to her aunt. Sara picked her up immediately planting kisses all over her face. She couldn't believe how much in love she was with the little girl who had only come into their lives two months ago. Sara literally could not imagine life without her, and she was so thankful that she was raising this child with her love, Nick.

"Did you have a good day with Nick?" Sara asked Ava. Ava looked down with a face full of guilt.

"Today was a tough day." Nick answered quietly. Sara never would have guessed they hadn't had a good day at the way they'd been interacting when she arrived. She decided she needed to talk to Nick first before asking Ava about it to get the story straight. Little Ava was known to fib and not tell the whole story. Sara put Ava down.

"Go play with your toys in the living room while I talk to Nick, sweetie." Ava nodded and ran off, happy to have gotten out of talking to Sara about what had happened.

From the look on Nick's face, Sara could tell something major had happened, and he even still a little upset, though he didn't show it towards Ava. She led Nick into the corner of the kitchen, away from their niece and rubbed his arms supportively.

"Baby, what happened?" Nick sighed.

"Ava was very disrespectful today. She was whining in the store even after I told her not to and she told me something very mean. I had to discipline her. I...um...I spanked her."

Sara could tell that Nick was upset about having to do this. They'd talked about it, but taking that step was a bit one with Ava. Though she was very loving, Ava had a temper, and threw tantrums a lot, though not as much as before. Sara wasn't surprised that Nick had finally spanked her.

"Well, Nick. I'm sure you had a good reason. Are you upset?"

"I know we talked about and I know she deserved it. I'm more upset over what she told me in the store, then anything."

"What did she tell you babe?" Sara asked grabbing his hand.

"Screw you." Nick told her, then recalled how Ava said it, and smiled a little. "Well, it was more like, 'scwou you!'" He imitated the toddler.

Sara smiled and told him, "She probably doesn't even know what it means." She kissed Nick and hugged him tightly. "I wonder where she heard it." Sara giggled a little.

"Hopefully not from our bedroom." Nick smiled, running his hands over her bottom. Sara giggled as she ran her hands up and down Nick's chest.

"I would hope not."

"Well, I would like to hear what she has to say, just out of curiosity. You know how she likes to change things around."

"Yeah." Nick chuckled, turning Sara around and leading her into the living room where Ava was playing. She looked up at them hesitantly, because she knew they were talking about her.

"Hi Sawa." She stood up and hugged her aunt for good measure, just in case she was in trouble. Sara sat down on the couch and pulled Ava into her lap.

"Ava, tell me about your day sweetheart." Sara commanded gently. Predictably, Ava did everything but talk about her behavior at the grocery store. She told Sara about how Scooby ended, what she had for breakfast, and the fact that she'd worn her Pull Ups today just like they asked. Then, she skipped straight to the afternoon, and how they had played in the back yard and made meatballs.

"Did anything else happen?" Sara asked prompting her.

"Umm..." Ava mumbled. The parents waited for her answer patiently. "I don't think so." She said, eyeing Nick to see if he would give her away. Ava hung her head when Nick gave her a warning look.

"Ava, something else most definitely happened. Tell Sara about the grocery store." Ava sighed.

"I got in big twouble."

"And what did you do to get in trouble."

"I asked fo' candy and Nick tolded me no." Ava muttered.

"You got in trouble because Nick told you no?" Sara repeated, letting Ava know she wasn't getting off that easy. "That's not the whole story, Ava. Did you do something bad when Nick told you no?"

"I don know." Ava whispered softly.

"I think you do know Ava, and I'd like to hear from you what happened." Sara told her just as quietly.

"Ava, remember, telling the truth is the best thing." Nick reminded her gently. Ava sighed before beginning.

"I kept scweamin' when Nick said no. And I gwabbed candy and cawed Nick names."

"And what happened after you called Nick a bad name?" Sara asked prompting her to tell her that Nick had spanked her.

"He was mad and he taked me to da car." The little girl looked down.

"And what happened then?" Sara gently patted her leg.

"Nick spank Ava." Sara nodded her head.

"Thank you for telling me Ava." Ava nodded her head still not looking at Sara or Nick. Ava got a little tearful, so Sara took her into her lap and stroked the hair back from her forehead.

"Ava not wike it!"

"I know you didn't like it Ava, but that's the point. Now you know what happens when you do bad things and you won't want to do bad things anymore."

"You spank Ava too?" Ava asked Sara tearfully.

"No, sweetheart. The spanking is over, but if you misbehave like that again, Nick or I may spank you again. We don't want to do that, but we will." Ava shook her head.

"Me good."

"Most of the time, baby. Do you want to go outside and play Ava?" Sara asked smoothing down some of Ava's hair.

"Yeah!" She said quickly, hopping off Sara's lap. Nick kissed Ava and went back to finishing dinner, so Sara could have some time with her beloved niece.

After Catherine had dropped off Lindsey for school she had come back to the house and gotten Emily ready for the day. Grissom then took Emily to the park after Catherine once again reassured the young girl that she would meet them at the park after the grocery store. Gil sat on the edge of the sandbox, where Emily played with another little girl happily. Gil talked to them occasionally and helped them build castles, but was enjoying listening to the four year olds talking. He was fascinated by Emily. However, after almost a half hour of sitting uncomfortably, Gil had to excuse himself to sit back on the bench nearby.

A young boy who appeared to be the age of seven came over to the sandbox where Emily and the other young girl were playing. He appeared to be a nice boy to Gil, so Gil didn't think anything of it and went back to looking at a newspaper that was left on the bench. However, when he looked down, the young boy shoved Emily down and the other girl and stepped all over their sand castle. Gil immediately came to his daughter's rescue.

"Hey! There's no reason to be mean to them. You're older, you should know better!" He told the boy firmly. Just then, his mother came over and led him off, apologizing to Gil. Emily and her friend were both crying a little bit. The girl's mother also appeared, and Gil picked his daughter up, taking her to the bench. Catherine was getting out of her car when she saw Gil get up quickly from the bench and go over the sandbox. She didn't see what he was doing, but she did see when he turned around that he was holding a sobbing Emily. Catherine looked concerned as she joined her husband and daughter on the bench.

"Baby, what happened?" She asked her daughter, looking to her husband's face for a clue. His expression displayed it had just been a little problem, and that Emily would soon be okay. Catherine gently scooped her daughter's hair away from her face.

"Tha..that boy was me...mean..." Emily cried. As she continued to cry, Catherine let Gil explain the story. She was amazed by the way he was telling it to her, but speaking in such a way that it comforted Emily and let her know it was okay.

"Emily and her friend were playing so nicely in the sandbox, but there was a mean little boy, wasn't there?"

"Uh huh." Emily answered sucking in a deep breath as she cried.

"That mean boy pushed Emily and her friend. He stepped on your sand castle didn't he Emily?"

"An he called us stupid heads!" Emily reported, sitting up in Gil's lap, feeling a little braver.

"It's okay Emily, he's just a mean little boy who didn't know how sweet you are." Gil told her as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. He handed it to Catherine to help Emily wipe her face. After a few moments, Gil got an idea. "That little boy was picking on you because you're smaller than him. What do you say you ride on my shoulders, and you can be even taller than me!"

Emily nodded happily and let Gil set her on his shoulders. Catherine smiled as she took Gil's hand and they took a walk around the park.

"Hi, Catherine!" Emily exclaimed from her position way up high. She was holding Gil around the forehead tightly, occasionally stretching his eyebrows a little unintentionally.

"Hi, up there Emily! Aren't you tall?"

"Uh huh! I can see lots of stuff from up here." Emily cheered happily.

"What do you see, Em?" Gil asked her.

"I see that silly boy!" She started.

"See Emily, you're waaaay taller than him aren't you?" Catherine told her as she reached up and rub Emily's back.

"Yep. An I see a squirrel...and a doggy...and lots of kids." "Gil! Look! It's Lindsey!" Emily told him as she let one hand go from Gil's forehead and pointed to a tree. Gil and Catherine couldn't possibly fathom why Lindsey would be here, and didn't quite believe Emily. It was 1:30 in the afternoon, and they knew their daughter was in school. They looked in the direction Emily was pointing and saw a tall. strawberry-blonde-headed girl, about sixteen, scantily clad, laughing with some friends.

"That can't be Lindsey. She's at school." Catherine said.

"It's Lindsey! It's Lindsey!" Emily told them again as she slightly bounced on Gil's shoulders. Emily didn't understand that Lindsey was not where she was supposed to be. They were in earshot, so Emily started calling her sister. Lindsey heard a small voice calling her and looked over, and her face dropped.

"I can't believe this." Catherine muttered, taking off in that direction.

"Do you have a plan Catherine?" Gil asked as they noticed Lindsey's 'friends' had run off and left her by herself.

"I want to see Lindsey, Gil!" Emily exclaimed as she leaned forward trying to get Gil to move faster.

"Lindsey Marie Willows, if you run one more step I'm grounding you until your graduation!" Catherine screamed after her. Though she didn't want to admit it, her mother still had quite an effect on her. When Catherine was mad, Lindsey listened, and her mother's strict, unhumored voice stopped her in her tracks. Lindsey didn't take another step, but didn't turn around, not wanting to see her parents' faces.

Emily didn't know what was happening. Gil wouldn't take her over to Lindsey and Catherine had just shouted at Lindsey. It was all too much for Emily to take so she started to cry.

"Sweetheart, it's okay." Gil gently shushed her, bringing her off his shoulders and into his arms. Emily buried her face in Gil's chest.

"Why's Catherine yelling?"

"Because Lindsey is supposed to be in school and she's not there." Gil answered her. Catherine looked at Emily who was curled in Gil's arms.

"Baby, I'm sorry I yelled, but I was trying to get Lindsey to stop running. She's supposed to be in school." Catherine had Lindsey firmly by the wrist, leading them over to where Gil and Emily were standing. Lindsey didn't dare look at either of her parents, because she knew she would be in for it when they got home. She was actually a little teary-eyed, but her parents couldn't tell if it was out of remorse, or for getting caught. They wondered what else she'd been doing that they didn't know about.

The family of four walked to the Tahoe and Gil set Emily in the car seat, but let Catherine strap her in. After Catherine had basically pushed Lindsey into the car, Catherine went over to where Emily was in her car seat. Catherine bent her head low to Emily's head.

"You know I love you right?" Catherine asked Emily softly. Emily nodded tearfully, and Catherine kissed her head, then looked over at her other wayward child. Lindsey was already buckled in, curled up on the other side, looking out the window. Catherine would give a million bucks to know what was going through her mind. The ride home was spent in silence as Catherine and Gil thought about what they were going to do with Lindsey. When they got home they told Lindsey to wait in the kitchen for them. Catherine knelt down beside Emily, who was rubbing her eyes.

"Do want to lay down for a nap sweetheart?" Emily nodded as she wrapped her arms around Catherine's neck. Catherine took her youngest daughter upstairs as calmly as she could. She felt so bad that Lindsey was picking the present time to suddenly start being so awful. Lindsey had her problems, but she had never misbehaved this much, and so badly. Catherine really didn't know what she was going to say to Lindsey. She laid Emily down in her bed, and turned on a tape of soft lullabies, in case they got too loud.

"Catherine?" Emily called softly.

"Yes, baby?" Catherine asked kneeling beside the bed.

"I love you." Emily answered as her eyes closed in exhaustion.

"I love you too, baby." Catherine kissed Emily one last time, gaining a little bit more confidence. She had to remember that she loved Lindsey; and deep down, Lindsey loved them too. Being sixteen was rough, especially nowadays. As she came down the stairs, she saw Gil already pacing in front of where Lindsey sat on the couch, waiting for her.

Catherine put a hand on Gil's arm to announce her presence. She sat down on the couch beside Lindsey and Gil leaned up against the wall directly across from the couch. Catherine decided that starting off yelling wouldn't help the situation, so she chose to let Lindsey explain herself.

"Lindsey, we were obviously very shocked today to see you at the park. First, because you're grounded, but mostly because it was school hours. Will you start off by explaining how you ended up there?"

"Well considering I have two legs, I walked." Lindsey answered back with spite.

"Okay." Catherine said in an annoyed voice, and Gil shifted, crossing his arms. "I'm trying to give you a chance to explain yourself, so why don't you take it?"

"I was tired, thanks to Emily, so I didn't go to school." Lindsey told them shrugging.

"Lindsey, that's not a good excuse and you know it." Catherine answered, her tone becoming more and more annoyed.

"Don't try blaming this on Emily." Gil spoke up from his place against the wall.

"Why were you at the park Lindsey? Give us a real answer this time." Catherine told her firmly.

"I'm so sick of school!" Lindsey complained, but everyone knew that was not the main reason.

"Let's try this again. Why were you at the park?" Gil asked gruffly. Lindsey did the unexpected, and after an annoyed gesture, she put her head in her hands and just started crying. Catherine put her arm around Lindsey's shoulders and pulled her close.

"Sweetheart, will you please be honest with us?"

"I can't." She sobbed, breaking down even more.

"Why not, sweetheart?" Catherine asked her, and Gil came to sit down on the other side of Lindsey.

"Because you won't like what it is." Catherine rubbed her back soothingly.

"How do you know we won't like what it is unless you tell us? Be honest with us baby."

"It's about Emily." She finally said, taking the first step. Catherine and Gil shared a worried glance. They knew adjusting to having a new sibling would be hard for Lindsey, but she was taking it harder than they expected. Sure, she was great with Emily, but now they could see more was going on beneath the surface.

"What about Emily?" Gil asked rubbing her arm affectionately.

"She's...she's just so needy and timid...and." She paused. "I feel like you want to be around her more than me." Catherine and Gil shared a look over Lindsey's head.

"Sweetheart, Emily needs more attention and help than you do, but that doesn't mean we don't want to be around her more than you. We love you both equally." Catherine said stroking her hair.

"Then why are you always yelling at me?" She screeched, wiping at her eyes.

"Lindsey, you've been extremely disrespectful the past week and now you're ditching class. You won't listen to us." Gil answered.

"But that's the only way you'll pay attention to me." She growled out, breaking her parents' hearts. They were trying their very best to pay attention to both children. They didn't think they were being unfair - Lindsey had been rude and belligerent the last week, and they responded like any other parents.

"Lindsey, you know for a fact that isn't true. We pay attention to you whether you are doing good or bad." Catherine told her pulling away to look at her in the eyes.

"I wish Dad was here..." Lindsey mumbled.

"Lindsey, sweetheart, we know you miss your dad." Gil said sympathetically. "It's okay to talk about him and miss him, but he wouldn't be tolerating your behavior either."

Lindsey turned her head and glared at Gil. "How would you know? You hated my dad." Lindsey spat out bitterly.

"Of course I didn't hate your dad. He made some bad decisions sometimes, but he was a good person. He loved you, like I love you, Linds." Lindsey opened her mouth, but nothing came out, instead she hung her head, defeated. Gil rubbed her back supportively.

"Lindsey, you know we're going to have to punish you for this. What do you think should happen?"

Lindsey shrugged and answered, "Ground me again, I suppose."

"Or, you know," Gil started, "You could have extra chores around the house to do, since you're already grounded."

Lindsey nodded. "I could do that." This would benefit the whole family. "But I'm not babysitting Emily." Lindsey made clear.

"Why are you so against doing that Lindsey?" Catherine asked shocked.

"Because she's already taking over my life, and I can't get away from her since I'm grounded. So, when I'm home I want to stay away from her."

"Be nice to her and be civil to her. You don't need to be around her all the time, but when you are, you better be loving to her." Catherine told her firmly. Gil nodded agreeing.

"When am I not?" Lindsey challenged. She truthfully was very good around the little girl, but Lindsey knew that if she was constantly around Emily, she might drive her nuts.

"Good, let's keep it that way." Gil answered firmly. "Why don't you go up to your room and start on the work you missed today." Gil told her, nodding towards the stairs. Lindsey sighed as she got up from the couch and started to walk up the stairs.

Catherine and Gil hugged each other supportively. "I knew this was affecting her, Gil. How did I not notice?"

"Sweetheart, it's okay. There were a lot of things going on. Lindsey will adjust soon. She'll get used to Emily." Gil told her hoping he was right.

"I hope you're right. I don't think I can take much more of this." Gil rubbed her back.

"You won't have to. We'll make it better."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 7:**

Emily was looking decidedly nervous about what her day presented. It had been almost a month since she had her first visit with the Stokes. Since then, Ava and Emily had been playing a lot together, but her parents had always been with her. Today, her parents were going to drop her off at the Stokes'...alone. Catherine and Gil had said that they had to run a few errands and she would be bored and that she would have much more fun with Ava. Emily knew she had fun with Ava, but she was still nervous about being left.

The parents had purposely set up this play date for them to be absent - they want to feel out how Emily was doing. It would be in a familiar setting, and they wanted to see how Emily would adjust. They didn't want her to be overly dependent on them, and she had been bonding well with Ava, Nick, and Sara.

"Are you ready, Emily?" Catherine asked her daughter. Emily nodded as she ran from where she was seated in the living room to where her mother was standing. Emily latched on to Catherine's hand. She and Ava always had fun, but her parents were always there with her. Emily's stomach turned a little as her mother loaded her into the car and pulled out of the driveway.

"You're going to have a lot of fun, Emily. I promise." Catherine said looking at Emily through her rear view mirror. Emily didn't answer, and the family drove in silence to the Stokes' house. Lindsey was off at school for the day, and Catherine and Gil were looking forward to a little time alone shopping and doing errands for the first time in a long time.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the Stokes'. Gil went to the back and got Emily out of the car seat and set her on the ground. Emily took his hand and made sure Catherine was following them to the door. As he rang the doorbell however, Emily tugged on his hand and held her arms up to be picked up. Gil did so, giving her a kiss on the cheek, as Sara came to the door with Ava in the same position.

"Hey guys!" Sara told them cheerfully. Ava clapped her hands together.

"Hey Emiwy! We pway togeder!" She reached out for her best friend, and the two girls hugged while being held in their parents' arms. Moments later, Gil and Sara let their children down, and the girls immediately ran off into the living room to play. Sara smiled and turned back to Gil and Catherine.

"I'm sure she'll be just fine." She reassured her friends, who were visibly worried about how Emily would do. Catherine and Gil nodded.

"Call if anything happens." Catherine told her.

"I will, don't worry. See you guys in a couple hours." Catherine and Gil bid Emily goodbye quickly and then Sara shut the door as they left.

Nick came back in from the backyard where he had been doing yard work. He was sweaty and gross, and he knew Sara didn't like it, so he walked over to her. Before she could get away, he gave her a big hug.

"Nick, eww! Don't' hug me when you're sweaty!" She laughed and freed herself from his grip. "Now I'll have to change my shirt and get a cootie shot!" The two girls laughed from where they were seated on the floor playing with Barbie's.

"Nick has cooties!" Ava yelled.

"I'll give you cooties too, if you're not nice to me." Nick threatened jokingly. Ava giggled at her silly uncle and went back to playing with her friend.

"Your daddy is funny." Emily said. Ava furrowed her eyebrows at Emily.

"He not Daddy. He uncwel."

"But you live with him. Sara's your mommy and Nick's your daddy."

"Catrine and Gil you Mommy an' Daddy?" Ava asked curiously.

"I don't know." Emily replied honestly.

Just then, Sara came back in with a new t-shirt on, and Nick had gone to take a shower and change.

"Hey, girls, what do you want to get up to today?"

"Swim!" Ava yelled from the floor of the living room.

"Are you monsters going to be good and get out when we ask you?" Sara asked them seriously. The girls were developing a reputation for staying in the pool long after they'd turned pruny and their lips were purple. Ava and Emily nodded their heads yes.

"Well, okay!" Sara told them smiling when they ran to Ava's room to get ready. Emily kept a bathing suit at the Stokes' house because she was over so often and had turned basically into a little fish, just like Ava. Emily had since started to trust Sara enough to let her help her change. Sara helped both girls into their bathing suits, and they all emerged from the bedroom just as Nick was coming out from his shower.

"The fishes are at it again?" Nick asked rubbing a towel through this hair.

"Unca Nick, Ava not a fish!" She told him, batting his leg in jest a little bit. Nick laughed and tickled her tummy.

"You're always in the water!" He picked her up and slung her over his shoulder fireman-style, causing her to giggle loudly. Sara held Emily's hand and they followed the nutty pair outside. Ava was quickly becoming a daddy's girl, but Sara didn't mind at all.

"Don't forget to put lotion on your mini me." Sara commented on their similar personalities.

Sara put lotion on Emily as Nick put lotion on Ava. They put the floaties on the two girls and soon they were laughing and splashing away in the water. When the girls weren't looking, the couple managed to catch a few longing kisses, as they cuddled in one of the lawn chairs a bit, but they kept a close eye on the girls.

"Nick, come pway!" Ava requested, splashing around.

"I'm going to sit out of the pool right now Ava, I'm a little tired from working earlier." Nick told her with his eyes closed.

"Pwetty pwease." She requested, flashing her best puppy dog eyes.

Nick stroked Sara's back with his hand and whispered, "You should go in there, babe. And then I can watch you in your bathing suit." Sara giggled.

"You just want to sleep cowboy."

"You're right." He smiled, and kissed her on the lips. Sara stood up a little reluctantly, and peeled off her tank top and shorts, much to Nick's pleasure. He helped her apply lotion, and then she was in the pool with the girls.

After a few minutes, she huddled them together and whispered, "On the count of three, we're going to splash Nick, okay?"

The girls giggled and nodded.

"One...two...three!" Sara whispered. At the sound of the there the girls and Sara splashed big waves over at Nick.

"Hey!" He complained, in a not-so-irritated voice, sitting straight up. "You girls are so mean to me. I think I'll be deserving a lot of hugs and kisses later."

"Hugs an' kisses!" The girls yelled together. After almost an hour in the pool, Nick and Sara knew to get the girls out, or they'd start getting cranking. It was pretty much always a battle to get them out. Well, mostly with Ava. Emily felt a little braver around Ava, and would start protesting a little bit like her friend did. Sara was sitting on the edge of the pool with her feet dangling in.

"Come on girls it's lunch time. Time to get out."

"No, Sawa, not yet. Wonger!" Ava requested, and doggy paddled in the opposite direction of where Sara was sitting. Emily looked back and forth from between Ava and Sara and thought about joining Ava in the swimming, but soon changed her mind at the look on Sara's face at Ava. Emily swam over to Sara and allowed her to pick her up out of the water.

"Good girl." Sara praised Emily. Nick handed his wife a towel and she started drying Emily off.

"Ava, it's time to get out." Nick told his niece.

"Swim Nick!" Ava said swimming in the middle of the pool so Nick and Sara couldn't reach her.

"I already said no, honey." Nick got her towel ready and stood by the edge of the pool. "Out, Ava." He repeated.

"No."

"Ava Elizabeth are you arguing with me?" Nick asked firmly.

"No." Ava lied.

"I hope not. Little girls who don't get out of the pool when they're asked don't get to swim anymore."

"Come on Ava, get out of the pool. It's lunch time." Sara told Ava trying to coax her out of the water. She finished with Emily, who clung her towel around her shoulders.

"Ava, get out, you silly girl!" Emily told her. Ava smiled at her friend and realized she was missing out playing with her. She checked Nick's face before swimming over and allowing him to pluck her from the pool.

Nick dried her off and soon both girls were running through the house to the kitchen to pick out what they wanted for lunch.

"Uh-uh." Sara grabbed Ava when she started running. "We don't run in the house, especially if we're still wet. You need to go change before lunchtime." Emily stopped running when Ava was caught by Sara.

"Emiwy change too?" Ava asked. Emily nodded and walked into Ava's room and shut the door firmly, to make sure no one would walk in on her. Emily liked Nick, but sometimes she wasn't sure about men. Her past still caused Emily to question any male. She was okay with Sara now, but still nervous about Nick. She tentatively started to peel off her swimsuit.

Meanwhile, back in the hallway, Ava was arguing with Sara.

"No change! Pway!"

"Ava, we are done playing until after lunch." Sara pulled her towards her and Nick's bedroom to change, so they wouldn't walk in on Emily changing. Ava dug her heels in the carpet as continued to pull her. Sara picked her up and took her into the bedroom and shut the door.

"We're going to change and then go eat lunch." Sara said firmly. Ava was pushing Sara's hands away as she tried to take her bathing suit off. If it were up to the two year old, she would just stay in her swimsuit all day. That way, she could always just get back in the pool whenever she wanted. She knew nothing about catching a cold from being wet all day, and didn't care.

Nick walked in opting to change his shirt again from the heat outside. He saw Ava trying to push Sara away so he walked over to where they were at.

"Ava, you need to change." Nick said firmly grabbing her hands from pushing away Sara.

"Why?" She cried. "I wike baving suit! Stay in!" She argued, kicking her feet.

"Ava, you're going to get sick if you stay in your bathing suit. You need to change. Stop kicking." Nick told her as Sara went to grab her ankles to stop her from kicking. Ava squirmed a bit more, but then gave up, crying, and allowed Nick to take her arms out of her bathing suit. Sara grabbed Ava's shirt from the bed and tried to put it on Ava.

"The sooner we do this Ava, the sooner you can eat lunch, and the sooner you can continue playing with Emily." The new parents didn't understand why the two year old was arguing so much, other than just the fun she seemed to get from frustrating them. They had given her every opportunity to cooperate and be a good girl, but Ava would just not go along with them. She pushed Sara hand away when she tried to put her shirt on.

"Dummy!"

"Ava Elizabeth, what did you just call your aunt?" Nick asked moving Ava's face so that she was facing him.

"Sawa mean! You both dummy!" She shouted, continuing to squirm and kick at her parents. The trio didn't notice, but Emily had since finished changing and couldn't find them in the living room and kitchen, but she heard noise coming from a closed door at the end of the house. Emily innocently opened the door, not knowing any better to ask to come in first.

At the moment she opened the door Nick was turning over Ava and administrating a spanking. Ava wailed at the sting and covered her bottom quickly. Emily just stood in the doorway and stared. She'd been slapped around and beaten by former foster fathers, and seeing Ava getting spanked brought back a huge rush of ill feelings. Emily didn't know whether to yell at Nick to stop, cry, scream, or run away. Nick stood Ava on the floor, when they all first noticed Emily standing there, her lips trembling and tears coming down her face. Nick and Sara looked at each other and back at Emily.

"Sweetie..." Sara started to say as she got up slowly and cautiously walked over to where Emily was at. She started bawling almost uncontrollably, and an outsider would have thought she was the one who'd just been punished. Sara took Emily into her arms and picked her up, trying to console her. They didn't even think about the effect this may have on Emily, but they didn't think she'd see it either. Emily was virtually inconsolable. She tried to best to get away from Sara.

"Emily, it's okay, sweetheart. Everything's alright."

"No!" She sobbed. "I don't want to get hit again!"

"I promise you won't get hit sweetie. We were just punishing Ava." Sara told her trying to console her.

"Nooooo! I don't wanna get hit. I wanna go home!" Emily cried even louder. Ava's crying was dying down now, as she allowed Nick to change her. She watched her friend curiously, as she had never seen this kind of display from Emily before. Why was she crying? She didn't get spanked! After several minutes of painful, unstoppable crying, Sara decided they needed backup.

"Nick, can you please call Catherine and Gil?" Sara called to Nick over Emily's crying.

"Yeah, baby. Hold on." Nick finished pulling Ava's t-shirt over her head, and picked her up, walking over to the bedside phone. Nick picked up the phone and hurriedly dialed Gil's cell phone number.

"Nick isn't going to hit you sweetie. He won't hit you. I promise." Sara told Emily rubbing her stomach in an attempt to relax her.

"He hit Ava!" Emily pointed out. She never knew any distinction between someone else getting hit and herself, because usually her foster father's wrath was invoked on everyone. Ava was still sniffling, but watching her friend closely. Sara had never been prouder, when Ava shimmied out from under Nick's arm and crawled over, giving Emily a big hug.

"It's otay Emiwy." Ava told her friend quietly. "Nick not wike my havior. You good girl." She explained patiently.

"He hit you!" Emily exclaimed continuing to cry.

"Iss cawed spank. Didn't your daddy spank Emiwy?" Ava asked. She assumed that all children were treated the same, and still didn't understand why Emily was so freaked out. Sara knew all too well that some children weren't given a fair start, and listened to the girls' interaction curiously.

"Gil don't hit me. Catherine said he wouldn't." Emily answered still crying.

"Sara, Grissom said he was on his way here with Catherine and they'll be here as soon as they can." Ava was confused by her answer, but didn't say anything. Emily visibly perked up when she heard her parents were coming. She finally stopped crying and allowed Sara to hold her again. Nick looked really guilty and sorry that they'd caused Emily to get upset. He hoped the Grissoms would understand, and that Emily would be okay.

"Ava, do you want to go get some lunch now?" He asked his niece. Ava looked at her friend and looked back at Nick.

"No. Me stay wit Emiwy."

Nick thought it was kind of sweet that Ava wanted to stay with Emily, so he went to the kitchen and grabbed a few crackers, Easy Cheese, and juice for the girls to eat. He knew that they could easily get cranky without eating, as evidenced by Ava's temper tantrum. He came back in the room and set the items on the bed for the girls. A few moments later he heard the doorbell ring. Emily jerked up and fought to get free from Sara's arms. Sara let Emily go, but called after her not to run. There was no stopping the little girl, though. She beat Sara and Nick to the door, and opened it with a bit of a struggle. As soon as she saw Catherine and Gil, she threw herself at them and starting crying again.

Gil scooped her up quickly in his arms and Catherine rubbed her back. Catherine turned to look at Sara and Nick.

"What happened?"

"Why don't you come in for a few minutes." Sara requested, opening the door wider. The Grissoms decided to, and they all filed into the living room. Ava took up camp in Sara's lap, and Emily remained firmly attached to Gil. Emily refused to look up from where her head was buried in Gil's shoulder.

"We had an incident at the house. Ava was behaving poorly and Nick had to discipline her. Emily walked in when Nick was spanking Ava." Sara told the Grissoms softly. The Grissoms could easily see how this would upset Emily. They had decided as a couple never to physically punish Emily because of her background, but didn't even think that seeing another child being punished would have this kind of affect on her. Gil hugged his daughter a little bit tighter, and felt bad for the Stokes. They probably felt so guilty, but none of them knew this would happen.

"Thank you for calling us and don't worry about this. No one knew she would react this way." Catherine reassured the Stokes.

"But we should probably get her home." Gil added, watching Emily closely. She had since calmed down and was okay now that she was safe in Gil's arms.

"Thank you so much for having her. We'll have to have Ava over next."

"It was no problem and yes that would be fun." Sara said smiling. They all said their goodbyes and soon the Grissoms were on their way home. Catherine and Gil talked quietly and reassuringly to their daughter on the way home, just trying to get her back in a calm place. When they got home, they decided to just have some quiet down time as a family until Lindsey got home. Emily fell asleep on Gil's chest, with her mother lying next to them.

About an hour later Gil woke to the sound of the front door opening and closing. He looked at the clock and noticed it was 3:15 pm. Lindsey had long since served her time from her two week grounding, and hadn't gotten in trouble since, much to her parents' happiness. She immediately noticed the scene in the living room. They were both cuddling with Emily, so something must have happened to upset her. Emily started to whimper in Gil's arms which woke up Catherine.

"Baby, it's okay." Emily opened her eyes worriedly and looked at Catherine.

"Hey." She cooed, stroking back some stray hairs from Emily's face. "Did you have a nice nap?" Emily nodded.

"I did too. And guess what? Now Lindsey's home." Emily looked up her head and saw Lindsey in the corner of the living room. She extricated herself from Gil's arms and ran over to where Lindsey was at. Lindsey immediately picked up her little sister and hugged her tight. She had to admit that Emily always made her feel so loved and special.

"Hey, Em. Did you have a good day?" Emily didn't answer, she instead made movements to be let down by Lindsey. Lindsey let her down and she walked back over to where Catherine and Gil were seated and climbed into Catherine's lap.

Lindsey was surprised by Emily's sudden change in mood. She guessed she didn't have such a good day. Still, Lindsey wasn't always ready to dive into Emily's problems, so she would let her parents handle this. She got a snack out of the cupboard and sat in the recliner.

"How about we talk about what happened today sweetheart?" Gil asked leaning over to rub Emily's leg affectionately. Emily made an uncomfortable and almost argumentative sound and buried her face in Catherine's chest.

"Baby, I know you don't want to talk about what happened, but we need to clear up what happened at Ava's house." Catherine whispered to her rubbing her back soothingly. When she didn't protest, Gil began, and Lindsey listened intently to see what all the drama was about.

"When you were at the Stokes', Ava was not behaving very well. Sometimes, when kids misbehave, their parents give them a spanking. They hit their children on the bottom. I know that was kind of scary for you to see."

"Are you going to spank me too?" Emily asked starting to cry.

"No, sweetheart." Gil kissed her on the head. "Remember, we promised we wouldn't hit you. But Ava's parents sometimes spank her for a punishment. And that's okay."

"I don't like being hit." Emily said crying in Catherine's shirt.

"I know, honey." Catherine acknowledged. "No one does." She decided to take a chance.

"Emily, were you hit before you came to live with us?" Emily nodded again and cried.

"I wasn't even being bad!" The other three bodies in the room exchanged worried glances.

"When did you get hit, sweetheart? Can you tell us?" Catherine continued to stroke Emily's back supportively.

"He said I wasn't allowed to. He said he'd hit me more if I did." Emily looked at Catherine.

"Who said that, Emily?" Gil asked.

"Mr. Jenkins."

"Did Mr. Jenkins do anything or say anything else bad to you baby?" Catherine asked coaxing her to open up more.

"Lots of people there called me names. And the boys were really mean to me." Catherine kissed her forehead.

"I'm sorry baby. No one here will call you mean names and no one here will ever be mean to you." Their protectiveness of the girl now seemed to almost double in their minds. They would not let anything happen to this girl. She'd been through so much. Emily looked at Catherine and Gil and sighed. She knew she could trust them, but she wanted to let them know she trusted them.

"I love you mommy." She said quietly. Catherine looked up at Gil and gave him a teary eyed smile.

"Oh sweetheart I love you too so much." Catherine hugged her tightly and kissed her head. "Let's go play a little outside. What do you say?" Catherine suggested, getting up off the couch and picking Emily up. They hadn't pushed Emily calling them anything but Gil and Catherine, so she was truly touched that Emily had just called her mommy for the first time. As they got up Emily grabbed Gil's arm and tugged him to go with them. Gil happily accepted, and pulled Lindsey up off the couch.

"Do you want to play too, Lindsey?" He teased.

"Lindsey play!" Emily told Lindsey as they passed her on the way to the backyard. Lindsey joined in without protest, and the stronger-than-they-thought family played happily together, after jumping over one more hurdle.


	10. Chapter 10

A few days later Nick and Sara were laying bed enjoying the early morning hours of just laying together. They normally didn't get to relax with each other because Ava normally awoke in the early morning and wanted to be entertained. However, this morning they didn't hear anything coming from her room. Nick started to trail his finger up and down her naked back, causing Sara to giggle. He kissed her forehead and then pulled her so she was on top of him.

"You look beautiful, darlin." He told her softly, and she smiled and leaned down to kiss him sweetly. They spent the next few minutes tenderly kissing and caressing when they heard an unpleasant sound coming from down the hallway.

"What was that?" Sara asked getting off of Nick quickly and finding her pajama pants and tank top.

"I have no idea, but I think it was Ava." Nick answered her pulling on his shorts. The unpleasant sound repeated itself again as Sara rushed to her niece's bedroom. As she opened the door, she found Ava looking decidedly upset and unhappy, with vomit all over her comforter. She looked up, and as soon as she saw Sara's familiar and safe face, she started bawling and held her arms up.

"Nick!" Sara yelled from where she was standing at Ava's doorway. Nick came running down the hall and skidded to a stop when he looking inside Ava's door. "I think it's safe to say that Ava has the stomach flu." Sara retorted softly.

"I no fweel good!" Ava cried as she threw up once more on her comforter and all over herself. Sara had dealt with a lot of disgusting things over the years, but never with a sick child. The thought of getting any of it on her almost made her feel physically sick. But her motherly instincts took over, and she couldn't stand to see her child suffering there alone on her bed.

"Ava, sweetie, give me your hand." Ava cried and slowly got out of bed and took Sara's hand. "Let's go to the bathroom before you get sick anymore." Sara told her slowly leading her out of her bedroom. Sara turned her head to Nick and motioned to the bed.

"Can you change her bed? Please?" Nick gave her a grossed out look, but knew it had to be done. He nodded and watched them walk to the bathroom. Ava sniffled the whole way as Sara led her to the toilet.

"Do you need to throw up any more?"

"Don' fink so." She replied sadly. Of course, Sara thought to herself. She'd emptied her stomach all over her bed and the floor. Why would she save any for the toilet?

"Okay, sweetheart. I'm going to turn the shower on and help you wash all that icky stuff off, okay?" Ava nodded as Sara contemplated how exactly to get Ava out of her soiled clothing.

"Hold up your arms. I need to get you out of your dirty pajamas." Ava did so apathetically. Sara couldn't help but getting a little bit on her hands as she worked to make the neck hole as big as possible so she didn't get it all over Ava's face. She crumpled up the dirty top and set it beside the door. Next, she helped Ava balance as she took off her bottoms and her Pull-Ups.

"Nick, can you put her pj's in too?" She called down the hallway. Nick peeked his head in the door, a pile of her bedding in his arms as he bent down to get the pjs.

"How you feeling, Peanut?" He asked his niece sympathetically.

"Gwoss!"

"I'm sorry sweetheart, maybe after your shower you'll feel a little better." Nick said giving her a slight smile. Ava wrapped her arms around her stomach moaning.

"Sawa, my tummy hurts."

"If you need to throw up, go to the toilet." Sara reminded her. Ava walked tiredly to the toilet. Sure enough, she had another brief puking section. Sara didn't think she'd eaten THAT much. Nick and Sara looked at each other sympathetically, and he went off to start the washer. Sara rubbed Ava's back when she finished and tried to move her hair away from her face.

"It's alright. It feels better to get it out." Ava cried some more, and then Sara had her sit on the floor while she started the shower. Sara felt the water and determined that it was it hot enough. She turned to Ava.

"Come on honey, let's rinse off and then you can go back to sleep." Ava nodded as she wobbled over to Sara. Sara lifted her into the tub. Ava had never had a shower before, so she was a little frightened of the falling water coming from high above.

"It's okay. It's just water, but it's going to help you rinse that icky stuff off." She put her hand under the water tentatively and moved slowly until she was standing under it, but kept her head away.

"Good girl." Sara praised her, and helped her wash with a washcloth. She washed the toddler's hair also, talking to her soothingly as she cleaned Ava. Soon, she was done and she switched the water off. Sara helped her out of the tub and into a big, fluffy towel.

She dried her off quickly and asked, "Do you feel like you're going to be sick anymore?"

"No." She said, rubbing her eyes. It was just after eight in the morning, but Ava was again ready for bed. Sara told her to sit on the floor again and she turned around to get a Pull Up from the cabinet. When she turned around, Ava was curled up on the floor, closing her eyes.

"Ava, sweetheart, I need to put your Pull Ups on, and then I'll put you back to bed." Ava mumbled something uncomprehendable and didn't move. Sara skillfully dried her off as she lay on the floor and managed to get her Pull Ups on. She was already fast asleep when Sara picked her back up. Sara carried her into the bedroom and decided that she would let Ava go without actual pajamas on and softly laid her down into the bed. Ava curled up around her stuffed fish and started to suck her thumb.

Nick had just finished redressing the bed. He looked curiously at the small pile that had managed to get on the floor and back up at Ava.

"Poor girl." He commented. "I'll get something to clean this up while she's sleeping. Did she throw up again?"

Sara sighed and answered, "No, she didn't throw up again, and I hope that was the last of it, but I have a feeling it wasn't. I'm glad she's asleep for now." Nick stood up and kissed Sara's head, and brought her in to a hug.

"You were great then. You make a really great mom." He said softly, so they wouldn't wake Ava.

"That means a lot to me Nick." Sara answered sighing softly and she snuggled into Nick's arms.

"Baby, do you think we could have kids of our own?" She asked softly. Nick took a deep breath in and smiled. He'd dreamed of being a father for years now, and had come true out of the blue with Ava. They both loved Ava like she was their own, but Nick had been dreaming lately of having children with Sara.

"I think that's a great idea, baby." He turned her in his arms and gave her a passionate kiss. They moved softly from Ava's bedroom and into their bedroom kissing each other passionately. After a few minutes of heavy kissing and petting, Sara pulled away suddenly just as Nick was pushing her shirt up.

"Nick, I didn't mean RIGHT now." She smiled, rubbing his face lovingly. He laughed down at her and ran his hand over her bare stomach.

"I know. I just can't resist you." Nick admitted. "Ava will be asleep for a while, though you know. We could practice for the real thing." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Sara pulled him back down for another kiss. Practice does make perfect.

Lindsey sighed as she logged into a chat room. She became happy though when she saw that the guy who she had been talking to for a few weeks now was online. She knew her mom and Gil wouldn't approve, but at this point she didn't care. She wasn't even supposed to be on the internet anyway, since she'd been grounded, but boredom was setting in after a couple weeks. Her parents were at work, as usual, and they were none the wiser. She was getting her homework done, so as long as she kept that up they were generally off her case. She had been flirting with this guy whenever she talked to him and he flirted right back. She figured what's the harm in doing so. She figured once she really got to know him then she would give him her cell phone number. Of course, she had to be off grounding to do that.

Her favorite on-line crush caliguy06 instantly sent her a message reading "Hey babe, what's up?"

"Hanging around at home. What are you up to?" Lindsey responded back.

"Just thinking about you, hotty." He answered back. Lindsey smiled. She'd sent him a few pictures of herself, in photos that she thought made her look really hot. He was a year older than her and going to school in California. He hadn't sent her any pictures yet, but Lindsey was sure she could coax him.

"So, is today the day I get to see a picture of your fine self?" Lindsey sent back to him.

"No, I'm really camera shy. Obviously, you're familiar with it, since you can work the camera! What r u wearing?"

"Hip huggers and a tight tank top. What are you wearing babe?"

"Just my boxers." He replied. Lindsey giggled. It was fun chatting to him. He talked to her like she was really grown up; not like some dumb teenager. He made her feel wild and sexy; something she'd never felt before. But she hadn't told anyone about him yet. Not even her friends. Maybe when she had a picture, she would show her best friend. Lindsey didn't think anything of the fact that he had yet to send a picture. She didn't think of whether or not it was safe. She just thought about the thrill of talking to him. Lindsey was about to respond when she heard the front door open and shut and the squeal of "Mommy!" through the house. She quickly typed, "Gotta go, ttyl." And logged off immediately.

She quickly pulled up a school report she was working on. The only reason she was allowed on the computer was for school projects. She would go back later and delete the day's history so her parents wouldn't know.

"Hi, Emily!" She heard her mother say, and heard Emily run off towards the door. "Lindsey! What are you doing?" Catherine yelled up the stairs.

"Just working on my English paper." She yelled back down the stairs. Lindsey was really supposed to be keeping a close eye on Emily, but she had been watching TV, so she didn't see any harm.

Lindsey wandered downstairs so her mother couldn't comment on the state of her bedroom. She came downstairs to see Emily standing by the fridge beside Catherine who was getting the ingredients out to make dinner.

"Where's Gil?" Lindsey asked plopping down at the table.

"He has to stay later at work." Catherine reported, which wasn't out of the usual. He tried his best to be home for dinner whenever possible, but sometimes they still had to eat without him, since he was the supervisor and had more responsibility.

"How was Emily today?"

Lindsey shrugged, "She was fine."

"Good." Catherine answered putting the food on the counter. Lindsey rolled her eyes as Catherine bent down and tickled Emily's stomach telling her to go run to the pantry and get the can of beans. Lindsey liked Emily alright, but she was ashamed to admit she was still a little jealous. Lindsey seemed to be constantly in trouble, and Emily did nothing wrong. She hadn't even gotten in trouble once since she'd come to live with them.

"Mom! I just remembered something. Emily was playing outside today and when I told her to come inside, she wouldn't." Lindsey said proudly. Catherine looked at her older daughter curiously. It was weird that Lindsey would just randomly report something like that. She looked back at Emily, who looked at the floor.

"Emily, did you listen to Lindsey today?"

"I just wanted to finish looking at the butterfly an' I told Lindsey that and she got mad saying that I had to come inside now." Emily answered softly.

"That's okay, Emily. Just make sure you do what Lindsey says, alright?" She told her daughter gently, and looked back to Lindsey. "We okay then, Lindsey?"

Lindsey sighed and nodded her head slowly. That backfired on her.

"I'm going to my bedroom. Holler when dinner is ready." Lindsey got up and walked back up the stairs.

"Mommy, can I help?" Emily asked her mother hopefully.

"Of course!" Catherine exclaimed, and dragged a chair over to the counter so she could help mix ingredients. Emily and Catherine happily started putting together a casserole.

Meanwhile, at the CSI lab, Gil was trying to finish off his work for the day with an Internet predator that was being handed off the lab. Gil sighed as he looked through the names of the women this man was stalking. Truth be told, he honestly would rather be at home with his family. He smiled at the thought of Emily running to the door to greet him as she did every day when he returned home from work.

The man he was researching was 27 years old and lived in Vegas, though he was known to regularly lie that he lived in California. He regularly worried about Lindsey during cases like this. The man was chatting up young girls on chat rooms and aim. They'd talked to Lindsey, however, and felt that though she was rebellious, she had a good head on her shoulders. He scanned the list of screen names of the women he was stalking and stopped when he came across one that seemed familiar. The name was Blondebaby23. That vaguely reminded him of Lindsey, but he shook his head and kept scanning. As he continued to search however, he kept second guessing himself. Blondebaby23. It was really familiar. With the software he had, Gil had the ability to find out a lot of information about people if he wanted to. He started to type the username into the search and then stopped. He should be trusting Lindsey, not investigating her. Gil picked up his cell phone and quickly dialed the home number. A few moments later he heard Emily's voice cheerfully answer.

"Hello?"

"Hi, baby!" He greeted her warmly, feeling better already at hearing her sweet, innocent voice.

"Daddy! When are you going to be home?" She asked impatiently. Gil didn't think his heart could get any bigger when he heard Emily call him Daddy. She had slipped a few days ago and called him Daddy and he had quickly assured her that he was fine with it. She had been calling him Daddy ever since.

"I'm going to try and be home in about an hour. Sweetie, could I talk to Mommy please?" Gil asked.

"Okay. I love you." She told him, and he said it back. The phone transferred and he heard Catherine's voice.

"Already miss me?" She asked him in humor.

"Hi, sweetheart. Listen, I was searching through the usernames of the girls this punk is chatting up. What's Lindsey's username?"

"I think it's BlondeBaby, and then some numbers, but I don't really remember. Gil, she's been grounded and I don't think she's been on the computer..." Catherine said trailing off.

"Mommy! She was on the computer all day today!" Emily said pulling on Catherine's pant leg. Gil heard what Emily said, and his stomach turned. This was not sound good.

"Catherine, just because she's grounded, doesn't mean she's not been sneaking around. Is she still home?"

"Yeah." Catherine said, worried at just what Gil was implying.

"Can you find a way to check her history without her knowing?"

"I can log in on the computer downstairs and check her history and she wouldn't know." Catherine answered softly.

"Can you do that for me sweetheart? Please?" Gil asked silently begging her to do so. Catherine sighed.

"Yeah I'll do it right now and call you back."

Catherine and Gil were pretty Internet savvy, as was Lindsey. Using some of their top-notch technology at work, they did find out her password and checked her emails from time to time to make sure she wasn't emailing anyone they didn't know about. They weren't overly protective about it, but they took their liberties as parents. Catherine quickly logged on, finding her username and password in a notebook they kept in one of the drawers. Catherine found Lindsey's internet history and was surprised to find some for today. She searched and read through a conversation with Caliguy06. She reached for the phone and called Gil.

"Gil, it's me. I logged on and she was talking to some guy named Caliguy06." She reported, scrolling through the conversation, which had only lasted a few minutes, but was full of red flags for her as a parent. Gil sighed loudly into the phone.

"Sweetheart...that's our guy." He told her as gently as possible, but knowing it would be difficult for Catherine to hear in any fashion.

"Gil, are you sure?" She questioned him tearfully.

"Yes, I'm sure. When I get home we'll talk to Lindsey about this. Don't worry we'll take care of this." Gil reassured her.

"Honey, I think maybe we need to get away for a little. We need to get Lindsey away from all of this." Catherine suggested wiping at her eyes.

"I think that would be good, sweetheart. We'll talk later, okay?"

"Okay. Gil, come home soon. I want to ring her neck right now and hug her at the same time."

"I'll be home as soon as I can." Gil said before telling her that he loved her and hung up. Catherine sighed and went back into the kitchen and continued making dinner.


	11. Chapter 11

Nick and Sara had finally gotten out of bed for the day after enjoying each other for a while. They weren't getting much done again, however, as they stood in the kitchen kissing heavily again. Nick and Sara were still as much in love as they day they were married, and it had only grown with Ava now around.

"I should go check on Ava." Sara told Nick, hugging him tightly. Nick nodded and gave her one more kiss before she walked down the hallway to Ava's bedroom. She opened the door softly and noticed Ava whimpering in her sleep. She had kicked off the covers and was kicking her legs. Sara smiled and knelt down next to the young girl's bed and softly touched her cheek.

"Ava...baby..." She called gently.

"Wake up, sweetheart." Ava started awake and immediately started crying again. Sara sat down on the edge and pulled her into her lap. "Ssshhhh...it's okay now. I've got you." She rocked her and stroked her hair.

"You still aren't feeling well?" Sara asked quietly a few moments later. Ava shook her head quickly and buried her head into Sara's shoulder. Sara stood up slowly and carried her into the kitchen.

"I need to take her temperature Nick, can you hold her please?" Sara asked calling to Nick. Nick smiled at the sight of Sara holding Ava, who was dressed in nothing but a pair of Pull Ups. It would have been better, he thought, if Ava hadn't been so sick.

Nick sat down on the couch, holding Ava in his lap while Sara got the thermometer. Since she was so small, Ava's temperature could just be taken under her armpit, which would be so much easier.

"Ava, I'm going to put this under your arm and it will tell me what your temperature is, okay?" Ava looked at the device curiously and it didn't look scary at all, so she just snuggled in more to Nick as Sara lifted her arm. A few moments later it beeped and Sara read it.

"Well it's only a slight fever. It's 99.1. I don't think Ava really wants to sleep anymore do you?" Ava shook her head.

"No sweep no more. My tummy still hurts."

"Poor Ava." Nick cooed. He turned her a little and gave her a few kisses on her bare tummy, and Ava managed her first giggle all morning.

"Why don't you just lay down on the couch and watch TV for a little while, okay?" Ava nodded and Nick laid her down on the couch, where she then curled up in a little ball holding her stomach. Nick turned on the TV and put it on Scooby Doo because he knew that was Ava's favorite cartoon.

Nick and Sara watched her together for a few moments from the kitchen as she contently watched the cartoon. Nick put his arms around his wife from where he stood behind her.

"You're such a wonderful father." Sara told him, watching the little girl they were raising together. Nick took her into his arms and swayed with her.

"Why, thank you Mrs. Stokes." Sara giggled as he twirled her and they danced in the middle of the kitchen, with no music.

"You really want more children?" Sara asked him. They'd, off course talked about having children before they married, and both wanted some eventually. They'd gotten thrown into parenthood, but now they loved it more than anything.

"Mmmhmmmm." Nick affirmed softly, kissing her softly.

"How many?"

"Maybe one or two more." Nick answered softly. "It doesn't matter to me." Sara smiled at him.

"I don't care either." They kissed softly.

"Sawa!" Ava cried from the living room. They both walked to the living room over to Ava, who was sitting up.

"Yes, baby?" She sat on the couch next to her.

"The icky stuff coming!" She reported sadly, grabbing at her stomach. Nick quickly grabbed a bucket from one of the cabinets and brought it next to the couch. As soon as Nick placed it in front of her, she proceeded to throw up again. Sara held back her hair with one hand and rubbed her back with the other. After a few moments Ava stopped heaving and looked up at Sara tearfully.

Nick returned with a paper towel and a small cup of water. Sara talked to her gently as she led Ava to wipe her mouth and face and then rinse out her mouth a little.

"There we go. Does that feel better?"

"Yes." Ava said, sniffling. Nick took care of the bucket and Sara sat back on the couch. Ava straddled her aunt's lap and rested her head on Sara's chest as she just soothingly stroked her back.

"I no wike being swick." Ava mumbled.

"I know baby, but you should be better in a couple of days, hopefully." Sara answered kissing the top of Ava's head.

Dinner at the Grissoms' was beyond uneasy, because this creep was on Gil and Catherine's mind, but didn't want to bring it up just yet, especially with Emily around. After dinner, they decided to talk in their bedroom before moving forward.

"What do you think we should say?" Catherine asked Gil.

"I don't think it matters how we say it because either way she's going to hate us." Gil sighed.

"Should we punish her? She wasn't even supposed to be on there."

"I don't think so. We should just let her know that we're aware of what she's being doing and this man is very dangerous." They nodded to each other and embraced.

"We can do this Cath." Gil whispered to reassure his wife. They'd already put Emily to bed, and Lindsey was supposed to be in her room doing her homework.

They knocked on her door and she told them to come in. Lindsey was at her computer typing something on a Word document.

"Hey Lindsey, we need to talk to you for a few moments." Catherine told her as she sat down on the bed. Gil chose to stand leaning against the wall. Lindsey spun around in her chair and looked at her parents. She hated when they came in and said that. It meant she was in for a big talk. She didn't say anything, just waited for them to start.

"I've been working this case at work Lindsey. This man, he's twenty-seven, he talks to young women in chat rooms and claims he's a year older than them and going to school in California. His screen name is Caliguy06. I was looking at the screen names of women he was stalking and I was shocked and scared to see your screen name on the paper." Gil told her watching her face to see what kind of reaction he would get.

An array of emotions crossed Lindsey's face. It was the last thing she thought she was going to hear.

"How do you know my screen name?" She asked defensively.

"You told me your screen name, so when Gil asked what it was to double check the papers, I told him." Catherine answered calmly.

"Well, some guy started talking to me the other day, but I just ignored him. I mean, before I was grounded." She quickly tried to explain it away. Catherine shook her head and said firmly.

"Try again, this time with the truth."

"Mom! I wasn't doing anything wrong! When I'm on the computer, it instantly signs me in, and he just started talking to me." Lindsey tried to explain.

"Lindsey, we aren't going to punish you for getting on the internet even though you're grounded. We just want to keep us safe. Will you please be honest with us?" Gil asked pleadingly.

Lindsey was worried about getting in to more trouble, so what Gil said put her more at ease. They were telling her awful things about what this guy she liked so much was doing. She was really confused and getting upset.

"I...fine." She gave in. "I've been going on the Internet almost every day. That guy...he said he was seventeen."

"Did he ever send you a picture or tell you anything that was a little weird?" Catherine asked rubbing Lindsey's hand with hers.

"No, he hasn't sent me a picture of him. We...he said some stuff maybe he shouldn't." She admitted, looking at her mother worriedly. Lindsey was worried that they would be disgusted with her for the sort of things they said to each other.

"Lindsey, you know we've trusted you a lot with the Internet, but I looked at some of your conversations today." Catherine informed her daughter.

"How dare you! What about my privacy! I can't believe you would go behind my back and do that!" Lindsey yelled at her mother.

"Lindsey, don't speak to your mother that way." Gil warned her immediately, and walked closer to where she was sitting.

"Did you look at my messages too?" She asked him sharply.

"No, I didn't. I was just concerned for your safety. You might not think I do, but I care for you and the thought you being stalked doesn't sit well with me." Gil told her off-handedly.

"Well, I'm not stupid! I know what I'm doing. It's not like I'm going to go meet this guy somewhere. He lives in California."

"Lindsey, he's twenty-seven and he lives right here in Vegas. Have you been listening to anything we've been saying? Lindsey, you're being stalked by a strange man and you're more concerned for your privacy!" Gil said raising his voice a slight octave.

"Don't talk to me like that!" She yelled back, and against her better judgment, shoved him aside and went for the door.

"Lindsey!" Catherine gasped from her spot on her daughter's bed. Gil reached for her shirt and pulled her back.

"Sit back down. Now."

"Why don't you stay out of my life!" She yelled back at him, and struggled to snatch her shirt away from him.

"You are my life! Along with your mother and Emily. I'm trying to look out for you. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you!" Gil told her, his voice wavering.

Lindsey stopped struggling and looked back at Gil, seeing that his face was covered with concern and emotion. She could tell he was really upset, and wasn't just trying to ruin her fun maybe after all.

"Lindsey, come sit down." Catherine said gently from the bed. Lindsey moved her body away from Gil's grip and slowly walked to the bed. Lindsey sighed as she sat beside her mother.

"We want you to be more careful when you're on the internet. We're worried about you sweetheart." Catherine told her rubbing her head affectionately. Gil sat next to her, but kept his distance because he knew Lindsey was still upset with them.

"This man poses as a teenager, and he's dangerous, Linds. We tracked your activity because we want you safe. I'm sorry we had to do that, but we don't want anything to happen to you, and this man is smart."

Lindsey nodded and sighed, "Fine, whatever. I'll be more careful." She didn't want them to know, but she was weirded out at the thought of this guy stalking her.

"Good. Let's log in now and delete him from your friends list. Did you give him any personal information?" Catherine asked her, hoping she hadn't been that naive. Lindsey cringed at how close she had been to giving him her cell phone number.

"No. But he has my picture." Gil pinched the bride of his nose.

"We need to delete him from your friends as soon as possible." Lindsey moved to her computer and quickly logged on. Within seconds, she'd deleted him, but they knew the crisis wasn't over. Never before had it been so important to them to help catch this criminal. Their daughter's life depended on it. Catherine hugged Lindsey when she was done.

"Thank you Lindsey. Everything will be just fine." She assured her daughter.

"You're welcome." Lindsey mumbled softly. Catherine and Gil looked at each other and knew it was time to say good night to the teen.

"And you need to be staying off the Internet like you're supposed to be." Catherine reminded her, kissing her good night.

"I know." She admitted. Who knew what else they could track if they'd found out her password. Gil hugged and kissed her also, glad that everything was okay between them again, at least for now.

Nick and Sara lay in each other's arms later that night after putting Ava to bed several hours ago. She hadn't thrown up any more that day, but still wasn't looking too good. They hadn't fed her too much, and she hadn't wanted to be, so they felt relatively safe about her stomach for the night. Nick awoke to a noise coming from Ava's bedroom. He glanced down and noticed that Sara was still sleeping so he gently moved her out of his arms and quietly got out of bed. The noise sounded like a soft whimper, but then started turning into cries. Nick opened her door to find Ava sitting up in bed, but couldn't see her face very well yet. When he turned on her bedside lamp, he could see that she was visibly upset. The toddler cried more when she saw Nick's familiar and safe face and he pulled her onto his lap.

"Hey, Peanut. What's the matter?"

"Scawy dweam!"

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Nick asked Ava quietly. He rubbed her back affectionately.

"There was a big toiwet and it chased Ava!" She reported. Nick had to stifle back a laugh at the thought of her dream, but he could tell it was very scary to the two year old. He hugged her a little tighter.

"It was chasing you? What did you do?"

"I wan away and I twied to fwind you and Sawa." Ava told him burying her face in Nick's shoulder.

"That did sound scary, Ava. But it's all over now. It was just a nightmare. Toilets can't really chase people." Ava nodded and snuggled into Nick's arms.

"No chase me no more." Ava said firmly.

"That's right." Nick whispered.

"Are you ready to go back to sleep now?" He checked, seeing her eyes droop a little bit.

"No. Nick stay wif Ava." She requested.

"Okay." Nick agreed. He and Sara had agreed that Ava shouldn't be allowed in their bed, because they didn't want her forming bad attachment habits and thinking she could do it all the time. She had crawled into their bed before, but they made a point of taking her back and staying with her for a while in her room. Nick tucked her back into bed on her stomach. He sat beside her on the bed and rubbed her back and watched as Ava's eyes slowly closed and her breathing evened out. He waited a few more minutes until he was sure she was sound asleep before he turned off the light.


	12. Chapter 12

The Grissom family, minus Lindsey who was at home doing homework, were out and about running errands. They were currently at Wal-Mart buying sheets for their bed, and buying new pillows for Lindsey. Emily was looking around curiously when she noticed bubbles. She looked over at her parents, who were talking once again about Lindsey, and saw that they were stopped in front of towels. She figured she had enough time to run over and play with the bubbles and run back before they left.

She picked up one of the bottles from the shelf and unscrewed the top. Emily started blowing bubbles in the busy aisle of the shopping store without a care in the world, watching the pretty clear balls float in the air. She quickly forgot about going back to her parents and kept playing.

"Have you been checking her messages every day?" Gil asked his wife as she checked the size of the sheets she'd just picked up.

"Yes, but I didn't check them yesterday because I got busy. We both got home from work late and Emily wanted to read a book and I got distracted. I'll check them when we get home." Catherine slowly moved the cart looking for a different color of sheets.

"I hate that I feel I can't trust her." Gil shook his head sadly. He'd known Lindsey since she was a little girl, and it broke his heart that adolescence was changing her sweet ways. Catherine looked at him sympathetically.

"I know, Gil. But it's that creep that we can't trust." Gil sighed.

"I wish we would just catch this guy and then it'd be over." Catherine reached over and rubbed his arm affectionately.

"I know, so do I."

Just then, Catherine spied some sheets that had bubbles on them and thought of Emily. She picked them up to show her daughter, turning behind them.

"Hey, Emily, look what I -Emily?" Catherine called pushing the cart down the aisle. "Gil, did you see if Emily walked off somewhere?" She asked frantically.

Both parents started looking down both ends of the aisle, past all the busy bodies and carts, and couldn't spot her anywhere. They started panicking and ran out to the end of the section, looking both ways and calling her name. Gil stopped one of the workers.

"Have you seen a little girl, about four years old?" The worker looked at him and shook his head sympathetically.

Meanwhile, Emily had gotten bored with the bubbles and decided to go back to her parents. She hurried up and ran back to the aisle her parents were supposed to be in. However, when she got there she did not see them. Emily suddenly got a horrible, familiar feeling that she hadn't felt since she'd been with the Grissoms. She was all alone, with no one around to help her. She was abandoned. Not knowing what else to do, she just stopped and started to feel tears take over her eyes.

Grissom stopped Catherine and asked, "Do you hear that?" Catherine stopped and listened.

"That sounds like Emily!" They ran back down the aisles and found Emily standing in the first aisle they were in, sitting on floor crying.

"Emily!" Catherine called, and started running towards her. When Emily looked up, the look on her mother's face and the way she spoke her name loudly confused her, and thought Catherine was mad at her. She started crying harder when Catherine picked her up swiftly into a tight, relieved hug. Catherine kissed Emily's head repeatedly and hugged her tightly.

"Are you okay sweet pea?" Gil asked coming over with their cart and rubbing Emily's back soothingly. Emily just cried some more, choking on her tears a little bit before answering.

"I'm sorry!" She thought that they were really mad at her, and from past experiences, unpleasant things happened when adults were angry. Catherine noticed that Emily was shaking slightly.

"Sweetheart, do you think we're angry with you?" Catherine asked pulling back slightly so she could look at Emily's face. Emily nodded her head slightly still crying.

"Baby, don't you worry. Daddy and I are just glad you're okay. You're not in trouble, but you can't wander away from us like that, okay?" Catherine patiently explained, looking at Emily's face. It looked a little more relieved now, but still shaken up. Emily nodded and put her arms around Catherine's neck and hugged her tightly as if afraid if she let go, Catherine would disappear.

Catherine mouthed to Grissom, "Let's go home." And Gil nodded in agreement. They could do shopping another time. Both could see they needed to get Emily home and feeling safe again. They abandoned their cart and promptly walked out the store and out to their car.

Meanwhile, back at the Grissoms' house, Lindsey was on the Internet again, though she knew she wasn't supposed to be. Lindsey signed onto instant messenger and tapped the keyboard trying to decide if she should add that guy again. She decided to go ahead and do so. She wanted to see if she could help out with the case by finding more stuff out about him. She managed to request him as a friend again, and as luck would have it (or wouldn't), he was on and instantly responded.

"Hey, sexy. I was wondering where you went."

"I've been busy with some stuff. So, babe, I was thinking, today you could send me a picture." Lindsey sent back.

"Why all the buggin'?" He replied back. Lindsey sighed, thinking about the fact he was thirty something years old. Creep.

"Because I want to picture you in my mind all the time."

"Well I already told you what I look like...so you can just go ahead and imagine that in your mind all night long. What are you wearing sexy?" The creep responded changing the subject.

"Why won't you send me one? What's the big deal, are you lying about who you are or something?" Lindsey typed bravely.

He replied back, "Don't be crazy, Lindsey." The girl's heart dropped at seeing her first name typed on the screen. She was almost sure she hadn't told him her real name.

"I just want a picture of you so that I can show you off to all my friends." She flirted back trying to forget about the uneasy feeling in her stomach.

"Well, it's not gonna happen, so just drop it." He typed back quickly. Lindsey heard the garage door open just then, so she said bye and signed off, erasing her history. She didn't know, however, that her parents had just installed watching software on their home network, so they were now recording everything she did on the Internet. Lindsey dashed downstairs to greet her parents.

When Lindsey got downstairs she saw Emily hanging onto Gil like he was her lifeline and she saw Catherine coming in without any bags.

"I thought you guys went shopping?" Lindsey asked leaning against the doorframe. Catherine waited until Gil took Emily up to her room to have a quiet moment to tell Lindsey what happened.

"She wandered off and kind of freaked out, so we decided to come back. We'll have to go shopping later." She reported, throwing the keys on the counter.

"Is she okay?" Catherine shook her head.

"I had to sit with her in the backseat all the way home, because she wouldn't get in her car seat unless I sat with her. She won't let either Gil or I out of her sight. I need to go upstairs and talk with her and Gil."

"Oh, okay." Lindsey said, watching her mother get a glass of water for her little sister.

"What have you been up to?" Catherine asked her daughter.

"Not much. Pretty boring."

"Take a break from homework, watch T.V." Catherine told her kissing the top of Lindsey's head before heading up the stairs. Lindsey plopped herself down and Catherine gently opened Emily's door to find her being quietly cuddled in the rocking chair by her husband. Her heart warmed at the sight. Emily's eyes were closed, but Gil was talking softly to her. She decided that Gil was handling this just fine, and didn't want to disturb them, so she set the cup of water on the nightstand and went back downstairs.

Since Lindsey was in the living room watching television, she decided to go into the den and check up on emails. After checking a few of her emails she signed in to the software they had installed to watch Lindsey to check and see her messages. She was shocked to see Lindsey talking to the same creep. Not only was she not supposed to be on the Internet at all, but she had again deliberately disobeyed them after they explained she was clearly in danger. Now, Catherine was furious that Lindsey would do something dangerous like that, and couldn't hold back her anger.

"Lindsey Marie!" Catherine yelled from where she was in the office. "Get your butt in here!"

Lindsey got that bad feeling when her mother used her full name. She quickly got off the couch and went into the den where her mother's voice called her from.

"What, mom?" She asked, puzzled. As she walked closer to the computer, she could see that somehow her mother was looking at the conversation she'd had earlier with Caliguy06. Instead of Lindsey getting angry at the fact that her mother was reading her conversations she chose to defend herself.

"Mom, I can explain!" Lindsey exclaimed.

"You better start right now, young lady! You went on again and talked to this creep even after we warned you!" Catherine stood up, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at her daughter.

"Mom, I was trying to get you more information!"

"Why in the world would you want to do that? He's stalking women Lindsey! We don't know what he is capable of doing and you're just putting yourself out there."

"Mom! I was trying to help the case. I wanted to get information so that I could help you and Gil!" Lindsey exclaimed trying to get her mother to believe her.

Gil had since heard a ruckus going on downstairs, and luckily Emily had fallen asleep. He layed her down on her bed and proceeded downstairs to see what was going on.

"What's going on here?" He asked, looking from upset female to female.

"Lindsey decided that she was going to help with the investigation and started talking to that creep again! She deliberately disobeyed us! I don't care if you were trying to get information! I don't want you getting hurt!" Catherine yelled pointing her finger at Lindsey. Gil sighed, not believing Lindsey had done this.

"Lindsey, is this true?" He questioned her, crossing his arms. Lindsey felt betrayed, like they were ganging up on her when she was only trying to help.

"What is wrong with you? I was trying to help!" She pleaded with them. "And why the hell are you watching me?"

"Don't use that kind of language." Gil reprimanded her. "We're watching you because we don't trust that guy and we wanted to make sure he wasn't harassing you anymore. Lindsey, we want you to be safe."

"I am being safe! You guys are just overreacting." Catherine walked back to the computer and pulled up the part of the conversation where he had used her first name.

"Look at this, Lindsey. He knows your first name. Did you give it to him?" Lindsey shrugged.

"I, um, I might have. I don't really remember." She muttered.

"Lindsey, sit down." Gil instructed her, wanting to get through to her somehow, and not knowing how else. "I don't know what else to say to you. Your mother and I are professional criminalists. We see what people are capable of, and I know you don't want to believe it, but any type of interaction with this guy is dangerous. You need to stop immediately, and listen to your mother and I." Lindsey sat down in the office chair.

"I was just trying to help." Lindsey told them her eyes brimming with tears.

"I know, Linds. But you need to stay out of it. You don't know what kind of capabilities he has. You need to leave the investigating to us." He told her gently, leaning against the table now.

"Now, we've warned you twice about getting on the Internet. Are we going to be able to trust you not to get on anymore?"

Lindsey nodded, looking him in the eye.

"Good." Gil walked over, and though he rarely forced her, he pulled her up and gave her a strong embrace. Lindsey let him, and hugged him back, feeling safe, but still afraid that this creep was out there. Lindsey left them a few moments later and went to go into the living room to read one of her books. After she left Catherine turned to Gil. "We're going on vacation and we're going now."


	13. Chapter 13

A few days later, the Grissoms and the Stokes were slowly getting their things settled on the airplane that would take them to the happiest place on earth - far far away from all the drama that had been taking over their lives. They had decided to take a joint vacation to Disney Land and splurged on plane tickets. All the adults thought the idea of driving for hours in a car was daunting. A plane ride would be much more tolerable for their little ones.

Gil and Nick got their families settled into their seating arrangements. Nick, Sara, and Ava were seated in one row with Ava beside the window. Gil and Emily were seated across from them and Lindsey and Catherine were seated behind them. Ava was wildly entertained at watching the workers down below, loading the bags onto the airplane. Nick shoved their carry on luggage into the compartment as Sara settled her purse under the seat.

"Sawa, wookit!" She pointed at the window. Sara looked over at the window and smiled at Ava.

"Yeah, that's very cool isn't it?" Sara reached over and helped Ava sit down in her seat. "We're going to need to put on our seat belts sweetie so sit down facing forward please."

Ava sat down, but soon realized she couldn't see out the window anymore because she was so small. She quickly sat back up on her knees to look again.

"Ava, sit back down please." Sara told her again when the captain instructed them all to do so.

"No see out window Sawa!" Ava fussed slightly as she once again sat back down grumbling.

"Here, why don't try sitting on a couple pillows." Sara suggested, and helped position them under the toddler's bottom. Ava quickly settled down, and couldn't take her eyes off the window as they started to pull away from the gate.

From across the aisle, Emily started as they started to move, and looked worried.

"It's okay bug, we're getting ready to take off." Gil told her as he rubbed her head affectionately. Grissom took her hand and squeezed it supportively, but the girl was still tense. "We'll get to go really fast. It's fun."

Emily wasn't so sure, and she looked over at her friend Ava, who was looking out the window excitedly. Emily buried her head in Gil's side as she felt the airplane starting to move faster. Gil rubbed her leg affectionately and whispered, "It's okay baby."

Emily closed her eyes when she felt the plane leave the ground. Ava started cackling in amusement.

"Wooky! Doww houses!" She pointed out to her parents. They both smiled, glad that she was self-entertaining herself for now. It would be the couple of hours in the air where they were anticipating her getting bored.

Once they had finally gotten into the air, Emily opened her eyes.

"See, I told you it was fine." Gil smiled. Emily smiled and looked around at everyone in the plane. There were lots of strangers, but she felt safe since her daddy was sitting next to her, and her mommy and Lindsey were behind her. All four parents had come prepared with quiet toys for the girls to play with on the flight, so Gil got out a coloring book and crayons to keep Emily entertained. Gil lowered the tray down in front of her and Emily opened her crayons and Finding Nemo book and began to color. Gil got out a forensics magazine and began to read it. Behind them Lindsey was listening to her iPod and Catherine was catching up on a novel.

About half an hour into the flight, boredom was starting to kick in for two year old Ava, after acting out a cat fight with her two Barbie dolls. She dropped them to the floor below her feet and looked at Sara sitting next to her. Her face was turned toward Nick and she was whispering something. The gleam of Sara's ring on her left finger caught her attention, so Ava reached out and touched it. Sara felt Ava playing with her wedding ring, but didn't think anything of it because Ava had never taken it off. Ava spun it around on Sara's finger and started to move it frontward and backward.

"You're going to look so sexy in your Mouseketeer Ears." Nick whispered huskily, hovering closely to her mouth. Sara giggled, amazed at how giddy her husband could still make her feel. He leaned in to kiss her tenderly, letting his tongue dart out just enough to send her reeling. Ava was getting so bored, and was getting sick of hearing her parents talk and she saw them kiss. Ick!

"Ava have to go bafwoom" She told Sara. Sara sighed and unbuckled her seatbelt.

"We'll be right back." Sara stood up and took Ava's hand letting the little girl go in front of her so that she could keep her in sight at all times.

"Did you go in your Pull Ups, Ava?" Sara asked her as they reached the lavatory.

"Nope. I big girl." She reported. Sara unlatched a door that said 'vacant' and ushered the little girl into the tiny stall. Ava immediately commented on the cramped space.

"Sawa, it's too smaww!"

"It's okay Ava. Come on let's go potty." Sara told her trying to get the little girl to go to the bathroom.

"Nooooo, it wooks funny." Ava told her moving away from the toilet. "No wanna go!"

"Ava, it's just a toilet, but they can't use water to flush on a plane." Sara tried to explain. "It's just a little loud when it flushes."

Ava looked at it curiously. "Monster?" She pointed to it.

"No monsters in there, Ava. Sara sat down on the toilet with her pants still on to demonstrate. "See, I'm okay. There's nothing wrong with it." Ava was still unsure about it so she shook her head firmly.

"I don' fink I have to go no more." Ava told her. "Wet's go!"

"No, no." Sara stopped her, knowing Ava was just thinking of going in her Pull Ups. "There's not a good place to change your underwear if you have an accident. You need to go now, Ava." Sara told her firmly. She reached over to Ava and started to take her shorts down.

"I no go!" Ava told Sara struggling against her. "I no have to go bafwoom."

"Ava, don't be silly. There's nothing that will hurt you in the toilet. It's just like the one at home. I won't be happy if we have to come back later and change your Pull Ups." Sara told her, a no-nonsense look on her face. Ava's behavior was continuing to improve, but she was still stubborn and defiant at times.

"I can howd it twill Disneywand." Ava told her with her most serious face. Sara sighed.

"Alright, Ava. But you need to say when you need to go. I don't want you having an accident on this plane." Ava nodded her head in understanding, sure that she could hold it. Sara opened the door again and led her daughter out and back to where they were sitting. When they reached their row, Ava looked back at Sara.

"Ava pway?" Sara shook her head.

"You can play with your Barbies or you can color." Ava sighed and settled for her coloring book for the time being.

Meanwhile Emily was starting to get bored with her coloring book. She sighed and shut it.

"Daddy?" Emily asked looking up at Gil.

"What is it, bug?" He looked over from his forensics magazine.

"I'm bored." Gil put his magazine down. Since the seatbelt sign was off, Gil pulled his daughter onto his lap.

"Would like to sit with me for a while?" Emily nodded and leaned into his chest. After a few moments of sitting on her father's lap she sighed.

"I'm still bored."

"Do you want to walk around a little bit?" He suggested. Emily looked behind her at the aisle. She guessed it was better than nothing.

"Okay." Gil helped her off his lap and set her in the aisle.

"Just walk towards the bathroom and back, okay, but don't go any further." She nodded, but before going anywhere she went behind her and said hi to her mother and Lindsey. As she was doing that Ava noticed that Emily was allowed to get up and walked around. Since she had already asked Sara, Ava decided to try the other parent.

"Nick, can I pway?" She asked him hopefully. Nick glanced at his wife, and could tell she was getting a little irritated of the toddlers' questions. They tried to be consistent with not giving in to her requests when she asked after already being told no, but felt this was a different circumstance. Sara nodded her head.

"Alright, Ava. You can walk in the aisle a little, but you're not allowed to mess around." Ava smiled and hopped down from her seat. She walked into the aisle to where Emily was and the two of them set off down the aisle looking at everyone and everything. Grissom took the opportunity to stand up and check on Catherine and Lindsey for a moment, and Nick and Sara snuggled a little, but kept an eye on their niece.

Ava grew bored of walking and tugged on Emily's arm.

"Wet's wun!" Ava told her. Truth be told, the reason she wanted to run was because she wanted to forget about her current bathroom problem.

"I don't think we're supposed to run. I don't wanna get in trouble." Emily whispered. Ava started jumping up and down in place to try to get her pent-up energy out. It hurt to sit still for so long! Emily smiled and started to spin around in place, glad that she had her best friend with her for her journey. Ava then took off running forward in the plane, past the bathrooms, and into first class. Nick saw his little rebel and went after her.

"Uh-oh." Emily said walking quickly back over to her parents and Lindsey.

"What are you uh-oh-ing about?" Catherine asked her daughter, pulling her onto her lap.

"I think Ava's in trouble." She reported.

They looked up to see Ava perched firmly on Nick's hip, as he walked through first class, looking embarrassed. Not being able to move again really did a toll on Ava's bladder, and she couldn't stop herself from letting her muscles go.

"Nick, I gotta potty." She told him.

"I thought you already went with Sara." Nick sighed as he walked with her back to the bathroom. He set Ava down who was squirming like no tomorrow. As a two year old, Ava still wasn't good about telling the truth.

"I did. Gotta go again." She reported. Nick helped her into the bathroom. Since he didn't know about what Sara said, Ava didn't think she'd be in trouble with Nick about having an accident, since she was wearing Pull Ups. When they got in and Nick pulled down her shorts he noticed that her Pull Ups were wet.

"Ava, did you have an accident?" Nick asked, looking at her guilty face.

"Yes. I sorry." She said sadly. Nick sat her down on the toilet and sighed.

"Well, I'm glad you had your Pull Ups on. Good girl. Go ahead and finish in the toilet." He instructed her. Nick took off her shoes, followed by her shorts and Pull-Ups, and threw them in the trash. He hadn't brought any new Pull Ups in with him, so he told Ava to sit tight while he tried to get Sara's attention. Sara looked up from her seat to see where Nick and Ava were at. She noticed Nick waving at her from the bathroom. She saw him mouth 'Pull Up.' Sara sighed and reached in her bag and grabbed one. When she handed it to him, he could tell she wasn't happy.

"Nick, she's in trouble. She threw a big fit when we were in her earlier and wouldn't go, and I told her she better not go in her Pull Ups."

"Sara, she's two, and how are we going to punish her on a plane?" Nick pointed out.

"Well for one, she's not getting up from her seat for the rest of the plane ride and two, she's not getting any dessert tonight after dinner." Sara said firmly as she watched Nick help Ava into a new pair of Pull Ups. Nick thought that Sara could get a little irrational at times with her expectations of Ava. Making a two year sit completely still for another hour would be punishing them more than anything, and it's not like Ava was an expert at controlling her bladder just yet. She made mistakes sometimes.

"Let's talk about it back at our seat, Sar." He told her. Sara sighed.

"Fine. Let's go back to our seat." Nick helped Ava wash her hands and flush the toilet. He then led Ava back to the row with Sara following.

Nick sat Ava down in his lap after allowing Sara back into her seat.

"Ava, what did Sara say earlier in the bathroom?" He questioned the toddler.

"To go to da bafwoom, but I no go no more." Ava told him softly.

"I told you that there isn't a good place to change you on the plane if you had an accident, and that you needed to go, but you refused." Sara told her.

"I said I would howd it!" Ava told her crossing her arms.

"But you didn't, and you didn't tell Nick or me that you had to go." Sara pointed out, trying to help her make sense of the situation. Nick jumped back in.

"It's very important that you tell us, okay baby? Now, you need to sit in your seat and do something quietly. You wanna color?" Ava sighed softly and nodded as Nick helped her into her seat. He set her up with a coloring book in hopes that would entertain her for the rest of the flight. Sara still looked a little annoyed, and Nick couldn't tell if it was with Ava or him.

"Sar, are you okay?" He asked.

"Well, you just undermined me in front of our child." Sara told him, crossing her arms.

"Sara, we resolved it, and she's behaving herself now. Taking away her dessert later will just confuse her."

Sara shook her head, "That's not the point." She turned her head and didn't look at him.

"What? You think I didn't do a good job?" Nick asked, hurt that she was taking this so personally.

"No, Nick. Now she thinks that if I warn her and she goes to you, she can get away with it. She's manipulating you." Sara whispered harshly.

"Sara, she isn't manipulating me. She doesn't think she can get away with anything. Don't be so hard on her, she's two years old. She's still getting used to knowing when she has to go to the bathroom and how long she can hold it." Sara banged her head back against the soft headrest in frustration. Sometimes Ava seemed so out of control that she didn't know what to do with her. It seemed clamping down was the solution, but maybe she was being too hard on the two year old. She rubbed her forehead in thought and frustration. Nick took her free hand in his.

"Hey, don't worry." He kissed her cheek. "We're on vacation, going to the happiest place on earth. Let's not worry about it, alright?" Sara nodded.

"I won't worry about it now." She answered softly. He gave her a smile and brought her hand up to his lips and gave it a soft kiss.

The rest of the plane ride went smoothly and soon the plane was landing at LAX airport. The Stokes and Grissoms collected their belongings and headed to luggage claim. Once they found their entire luggage they found themselves at Enterprise getting their SUV that they were renting. It was already late in the afternoon, so they decided to stop at McDonald's to get their dinner for the night. Ava and Emily both got Happy Meals, and Lindsey and the parents all got meals. The group seemed to be in high spirits, excited about the next few days. It would be hot, however, according to the weather forecast. The families headed to the Disneyland Resort to the Grand Californian where they would be staying. They had connecting rooms so the young ones could run back and forth together not having to go through the halls. Gil and Nick went to the counter to go check in while Sara and Catherine waited with Emily, Lindsey, and Ava. Emily tugged on Catherine's hand wanting to be picked up.

The mother picked up the four year old, who was still quite heavy, and started talking to her a little.

"Are you excited about seeing Mickey Mouse tomorrow?" She asked Emily. Emily nodded her head immediately, but didn't seem to light up the way Catherine had hoped. Ever since she'd gotten lost while they'd been shopping, Emily had been extra clingy. Catherine would never tire of holding Emily, but they were working on making her more independent and confident.

"I wanna see the princesses." Emily told her mother quietly as she rested her head on Catherine's shoulder.

"I want to see them too." Catherine agreed, swaying her back and forth. Ava was jumping around from tile square to square right next to her mother, giggling and obviously excited. Catherine thought it would be interesting to see how the girls interacted around each other for a week. Gil and Nick walked over to where the rest of the family stood and told them that they were ready to go up to their rooms. The families walked over to the elevator and went up to the 5th floor. The families went into their separate rooms. Emily was fascinated with the entire hotel experience. She had never stayed in one so she curious.

Next door, Ava was also curious. It was pretty much an instinct for a kid to want to jump back and forth between the two king-sized beds a standard hotel room provided. She giggled loudly as she hopped from bed to bed.

"Ava, why don't you go play with Emily." Nick suggested wanting to get her to stop jumping before she hurt herself. He opened the connecting door, happy to see that Catherine had opened theirs as well. Ava thrilled with the idea of playing with Emily and ran into the Grissom's room.

"Hi Emiwy!" She happily announced her arrival and ran over to where Emily was exploring the drawers, pulling them open and closed.

The girls were soon running around, back and forth between the two rooms, delighting in the fact that they could open and close the doors between the rooms. Lindsey turned from where she was standing on their balcony which overlooked Downtown Disney, and watched the young girls running around the hotel rooms. She could hear both sets of parents telling the girls to be careful. She was excited about Disney too, but not quite as much as the girls. She'd been here before, but it was just fun watching how excited they were. Hopefully, though, she wouldn't be getting baby sitting duty while the parents went out at night.

"Nick, I want do hand stand!" Ava requested of Nick. Nick had introduced the idea a couple weeks ago, and she was always requesting for him to help her stand on her hands.

"Only one Peanut, and then I have to finish unpacking." Nick told her as he walked over and helped turn her over and hold her upside down. Ava cackled as Nick moved her next to the bed, so she could prop herself up. It was nice to let the kids run around now, without annoying strangers on the air plane. They would let the girls run their energy out, and hopefully they would soon be ready for bed.

Emily ran into the room she was sharing with her parents and saw her parents unpacking and saw Lindsey out on the balcony, so she took advantage of the situation and started jumping on the bed.

"Emily, don't jump on the bed, please." Catherine instructed her. Emily immediately stopped and sat down. It was refreshing to have a child that actually listened to her! Emily and Ava joined again and wandered into the bathroom. They delighted in all the little soaps and bottles they found waiting for them and deposited them on the floor to play.

For the rest of the night, the girls were quite happy playing store with all the little things they found in the bathroom and running back and forth between the adults. Their energy soon died down, and they were lying on the floor, sleepily watching TV.

"Okay, girls, I think it's bedtime." Catherine told them as she shut off the TV.

"No bed." Ava mumbled, as Catherine scooped her up off the floor.

"You have a big day tomorrow. We want to make sure you're wide awake to enjoy Disney!" Catherine explained. Ava protested no more as she carried the young girl into the adjoining room. Nick and Sara were cuddling on the bed, watching the news when they entered. Nick and Sara looked up when they saw Catherine walk in with Ava.

"You can keep her Catherine." Nick said winking at her.

"Nice try Nick, I have my own munchkin who is giving Gil a hard time as we speak about going to bed."

"Alright." He groaned in jest, getting up off the bed, and taking Ava from her arms.

"Thanks, Catherine. We'll see you bright and early tomorrow." Nick told her, as Ava rested her head on his chest. As Catherine left, he turned his attention back to his niece.

"Alright, baby girl, you look pretty sleepy." He commented. "Let's get you in your pjs." Ava nodded her head sleepily as Nick took the pjs that Sara was handing him and hurriedly changed her before she fell asleep on her feet. Sara picked her up once she was changed and laid her across the other king size bed and put pillows around her so she wouldn't roll off the bed.

Meanwhile, Emily, for the first time was being fussy with Gil and Catherine.

"Emily, if you don't go to bed now, you'll fall asleep when you meet Mickey." Catherine tried explaining to her daughter. Emily was sitting on the ground with her arms crossed, refusing to let her parents change her into her pajamas. With all the excitement going on, Emily decided she wasn't ready for bed. Emily shook her head.

"I don't wanna go to sleep yet. I'm not tired." She whined to them. In a sense, Gil and Catherine were happy that Emily felt comfortable with them to act up, but now wasn't the time for her to do so. Gil and Catherine had found that reasoning with Emily would be the best approach at this stage.

Gil tried again, "Emily, if you don't go to bed now, you might miss out on some fun things tomorrow. Ava's already gone to bed. Don't you want to be able to play with her tomorrow?"

Emily nodded her head slowly. "I wanna play with Ava tomorrow."

"Then let's get you into your pajamas." Gil told her again. "I'll read you a bedtime story if you're quick." He offered, knowing this was one of her favorite things. Emily sighed and slowly got stood up. She walked over to Catherine so she could change her. However, Emily did nothing to help Catherine change her. She just stood there letting Catherine move her. Catherine led her to use the restroom and brush her teeth, and then the four year old reluctantly climbed onto the bed next to Gil, who had a book ready to read. After only a few pages, Emily's eyes were closed. Gil got out of bed softly as to not disturb her. Lindsey had since gotten ready for bed and was climbing in beside Emily.

"Mom, what if she kicks me in the face?" Lindsey asked, smiling a little. She had never slept next to a four year old before, but knew that Emily had a tendency to move during her sleep.

Catherine laughed and said, "You have to walk five paces in front of us because you're going to look funny." Lindsey glared at her before giggling. Soon, both families were tucked into bed, getting their much-needed sleep for the busy day ahead of them.


	14. Chapter 14

The alarm clock went off at 7:30 in the morning in both rooms. Sara groaned in the Stokes' room. Ava apparently heard the alarm go off and she bolted up and yelled, "Disneywand!"

Her sudden outburst startled Nick and he gave off a startled yell, and sat up. "Geesh, Ava!" He looked over at her, and she was smiling widely, her hair ruffled from sleeping.

"Disneywand Nick! Gwo to Disneywand!" Ava yelled clapping her hands from where she sat on the bed. Nick knew this was supposed to be the happiest place on earth, but he hadn't gotten much sleep last night in this uncomfortable bed. He forced himself out of bed, and Ava stood up on her bed and jumped into Nick's arms.

"We won't be going to Disneyland for a little bit, Peanut. We all have to shower and you need a bath. After that we're going to breakfast. Wouldn't that be fun?" Nick asked trying to be cheerful. Sara groaned from her position on the bed, as she was just stirring.

"Hurry, Sawa, Hurry!" Ava encouraged her aunt, and she started lunging towards her from Nick's arms. He let her down onto their bed and Ava began to roughly shake Sara.

"Baby, Sara's tired." Sara grumbled from where her head was buried in her pillow. Nick decided to be nice and let Sara sleep in a little longer. He scooped Ava up and started towards the bathroom.

"Let's give you a bath, Peanut, and then I bet Sara will be up when you're done. But it'll have to be a quick bath. No time for playing." Ava seemed to perfectly understand, and she wanted to get to the park.

"Hurry! Hurry!"

As Nick was preparing to give Ava a bath, the Grissoms were rolling out of bed themselves. Catherine was the first to sit up in bed and look at her groggy family. Gil was still sound asleep, but Lindsey was turning next to a sleeping Emily.

"Linds, you getting up?" Catherine asked her daughter. They both seemed to have the same type of bodies - that would actually wake up when the alarm went. Lindsey nodded her head.

"Can I shower first?" She asked quietly. Catherine nodded her head as Lindsey got up from the bed and grabbed her toiletry bag and dug through her suitcase for some clothes. Catherine got out of bed and laid down in her daughters' bed right next to Emily. Gently, she stroked the young girl's hair and kissed her cheek.

"Emily, baby." She called softly. "It's time to wake up for Disneyland!" Emily sighed in her sleep and slowly opened her eyes.

"It's early Momma."

"I know, baby, but we don't want to be late." Catherine explained. "Are you thirsty?" Emily nodded.

Her mother got up and poured her a glass of water to help wake her up. As Emily was drinking, Catherine looked back over at her husband, who was still dead as a doornail.

Catherine whispered, "Do you want to help me wake up daddy?" Emily nodded and smiled widely. She gave the glass back to Catherine and jumped down from the bed.

She got onto the bed her daddy was sleeping on. Emily slowly crept across the mattress until she was right next to Gil. She pinched her fingers over his nose and started giggling. Seconds later, Gil Grissom startled awake, taking a slight gasp of air through his mouth. Gil looked over at Emily who was giggling and reached out and tickled her stomach.

"Daddy! I wanna go to Disneyland!" She squealed.

"You do?" He asked cheerfully, hearing the shower going in the background.

"Why do you think you should get to go to Disneyland?" Gil teased her.

"Daddy, your breath stinks."

Gil mock glared at her. "You sound more and more like your mother every day."

Emily laughed and started to jump on her parents' bed.

"Disneyland! Disneyland!" Emily chanted. Gil managed to drag himself out of bed as Emily continued to jump up and down. Catherine walked over to him and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, being forewarned of his nasty breath.

"Linds in the shower?" Gil asked her, turning on the coffee pot.

"Yes and I think after she's done I will give Emily a quick bath." Catherine answered him as she beckoned Emily to stop jumping. She, of course didn't listen, being too excited for Disneyland.

"Hey, Em!" Gil called to his over-excited daughter. She lessened her jumping to a tiny bounce, but didn't stop. "Come over here and get some breakfast."

"I want pancakes!" Emily yelled. She continued to jump and down on the bed. Emily had never demanded anything before, so it puzzled her parents a little bit, but they also knew she was excited.

"Well, Miss Emily, where do you suppose we make pancakes in this room?" Catherine asked her in a silly voice as she grabbed up Emily in her arms and spun her around.

"Why don't we order room service?" Gil asked as he was looking over the menu. Lindsey had since come out of the shower and was standing at the doorway.

"Let's order room service!" She agreed. "Gil, order room service while I give Emily a bath." Catherine told him as she walked towards the bathroom.

Back in the Stokes' room, Nick was just drying Ava off after her extra-quick bath. As soon as she was dry, she bolted from the bathroom to make sure Sara was getting ready. Sara was sitting up in bed, and was nursing a cup of coffee when Ava streaked across the room towards her.

Sara suppressed a giggle and asked, "Miss Ava, why aren't you wearing any clothes?"

"You go shower!" Ava demanded. Nick came out of the bathroom with a pair of Pull Ups in tow to catch the little streaker.

"Ava, I'm going to take a shower next, and then Sara will. Come put your Pull Ups on."

Ava sighed, "I wanna go to Disneywand!" She crossed her arms and sat down on the floor. Ava groaned as Nick pulled up her Pull Ups. "Wanna gwo to Disneywand! Wanna see Emiwy!"

Nick kissed her forehead. "Patience, Ava, patience. We'll get there soon, don't worry." He set her down on the bed next to Sara again so she could watch the little heathen while he showered.

As Sara took a sip of her coffee, Ava put her hand on the bottom to urge her aunt to drink up.

"Hurry!" Sara coughed into her cup and pulled it away from Ava's hands.

"Ava, that's not nice. We have to wait for Nick to take a shower, then I'm going to take a shower. Why don't you go play with your Barbies?"

Just then, there was a knock at the adjoining door, so Sara got out of bed and opened it up. It was Lindsey, holding a fresh and eager looking Emily by the hand. Ava's face immediately lit up at the sight of her friends.

"Windsey and Emiwy! It time for Disneywand!"

"Good morning Sara." Lindsey said smiling.

"Morning Lindsey and Emily." Sara responded back smiling. "Ava's not quite ready to play, she's not exactly dressed yet."

Ava ran over to her Dora the Explorer suitcase and pulled out the first pair of shorts and t-shirt she came across, though they didn't match. She tried her best to pull the t-shirt over her head, but was having no luck. Lindsey smiled and went to help her out.

"There you go, Ava." She told the struggling toddler. "But let's get you some shorts that match."

Ava watched excitedly now that Lindsey, her idol, was helping her. Lindsey pulled out a pair of jean shorts and helped her into them. She then found a pair of socks and grabbed Ava's shoes.

"We'll be next door." Lindsey told Sara as she led the children to the Grissom's room. Sara smiled, loving her niece, but glad to actually be alone. To save some time, and to get a little alone time with Nick, she joined her husband in the bathroom as they both helped strip each other's clothes off for a shower.

Back in the Grissoms' room, the three girls were playing happily on the floor, and the parents were happy that Lindsey was keeping them entertained. Finally both sets of parents were showered and ready to go. The Stokes went into the Grissoms' room to discuss what their plan was for the day. They all caught the tram to the theme park. The parents took the opportunity to make sure their children had plenty of sunscreen on. The two families had already purchased their 5 day park hopper passes over the internet so didn't need to stand in line to purchase the tickets. The girls were more hyper than a couple of kids after Halloween, talking up a storm and pointing at everything and anything as they entered the park.

"Wanna wide Dumbo!" Ava yelled pointing to the ride.

"I want to ride Dumbo too!" Emily agreed quickly. Their day would really be revolving around the children, as Disney rides were made primarily with them in mind. Their parents agreed to go on this ride first, and the summer heat was already pouring down on their bodies. Nick parked Ava's stroller in the specially made stroller parking area and picked her up. He walked over to join the rest of them in line. As they were standing in line, the girls could hardly contain their excitement, as they watched the ride going round and round, the children on board obviously in delight.

"Shwoulders?" Ava asked Nick, requesting to get on him to see better. Nick smiled and set her on his shoulders. "Wook how high you go!" Ava squealed clapping her hands.

Nick chuckled at her, as she held on to his chin. Emily thought this looked like a really fun idea also, and requested to get on Gil's shoulders. She was curious at how Nick and Ava interacted, and was trying to figure out if Gil was the same way. Gil allowed Emily to sit on his shoulders so that she could see as well. Sara and Catherine both agreed that they had to take a picture of the men with the babies of the family. They got the first shots of their vacation when they all said cheese for the cameras, and would be a photo both families would cherish for years.

Finally, it was their turn. Gil and Nick both took their daughters with them, Lindsey opted to ride with a cute boy she met in line, and Sara and Catherine hopped on together. Gil and Nick both learned that they should not let the young girls guide the Dumbo ride. They kept making it go up and down repeatedly and very high up.

"Emily, why don't you let daddy control it for a while?" Gil requested. Emily's arms were getting tired from guiding the elephant, so she let him take over. Ava, however, wouldn't let Nick have a turn if it was the last thing she did.

"Again!" She requested, taking Sara's hand and trying to rush her around to the exit.

"Hey, girly, you need to slow down. We have all day!" Sara tried to convince her daughter.

Nick slung his arm around his wife as they exited and theatrically reported, "She wouldn't let me have a turn." He made a sad face. Sara laughed.

"Aww, don't worry big boy, you didn't miss out on much. You can have your turn the next time we go on the ride."

"Anoder wide!" Ava yelled. They managed to pry the girls away from the Dumbo ride, promising they could return and ride again later, and went to the Teacup ride. Grissom and Nick were being really good sports about going on the little girl, kiddy rides, as Gil was a big roller coaster fan. Catherine laughed at Gil as he watched the teacup ride going around, a puzzled and curious look on his face. He was not a fan of spin rides.

"You know what Catherine. I think I'm going to let you go on this one with Emily." Gil said backing away slowly.

"What's the matter?" She asked him as he ducked under the railing.

"Unless you want me getting sick, I think I better go on the 'Sit on the bench and rest' ride" he joked. Catherine laughed and shook her head.

"Chicken!" She yelled. Gil didn't even break stride, but moved his arms up and down like he was doing the chicken dance. Emily and Lindsey both saw, and started laughing.

"What's wrong with daddy?" Emily questioned.

"Daddy doesn't like things that spin around and around." Catherine explained as they neared their turn on the ride. As they got closer they noticed that all of them would fit in one tea cup. Though it was a little cramped, the three adults and three children packed in, Ava sitting on her mother's lap. Lindsey was the first to take the wheel, making the girls squeal in delight. The adults all made exaggerated scared sounds as they whirled round and round. Pretty soon the young girls began to help Lindsey turn the wheel. The girls continued to scream in delight and were sad when the ride came to and end.

For the rest of the morning, the two families worked their way around a few more rides. Though they were used to the hot Las Vegas weather, the sun beating down on them was getting to all seven. Ava and Emily were already getting a little whiny and crabby. They decided to head back to the Dumbo ride as they promised the girls. Sadly, when they got to the Dumbo ride, they saw that it was closed down due to mechanical difficulties. This unfortunately set off the girls.

"Wanna wide Dumbo!" Ava yelled from her place in the stroller. Nick stopped the stroller and Sara bent down in front of it to see that Ava was crying.

"Ava, sweetheart, it broke down. We might get to ride it later, but we can't right now." Ava didn't seem to be satisfied with this reason. Still, she was constantly testing to see how much she could get her way, and didn't understand her parents couldn't control this.

"Fix! Ava wide now!"

"Peanut, we can't fix the ride. We'll come back later this afternoon. It'll probably be fixed by then." Nick said rubbing her head soothingly.

"How about we go get some lunch." Gil suggested. Ava crossed her arms across her chest and leaned back in the chair, her face red from crying and the heat.

"I think that's a great idea." Nick agreed, and they looked around to find a burger and fries type venue. As they waited in line, Sara tried to find out what Ava would eat.

"Ava, do you want a cheeseburger or chicken nuggets?"

"No wan' food! Wanna wide Dumbo!" Ava grumbled.

"Sweetie, you need to eat. What would you like to eat? A cheeseburger or chicken nuggets?" Sara asked again. Ava didn't answer, still pouting about the ride.

Emily was observing all this, watching her friend curiously. She sure did throw fits a lot and get a lot of attention. Emily was really hungry though, and didn't understand why Ava wouldn't want to eat.

Nick was observing his niece's fit and softly spoke to Sara.

"She'll wanna eat when we get the food. I'll just get her some nuggets."

"I'm going to go get us a table over there. Get me a salad and fries please." Sara replied back to Nick. "Do you want to come sit down with us Emily?" Sara asked as she saw a table opening up and wanted to go get it before someone else took it.

"Okay." Emily replied, and she happily took Sara's hand.

They managed to secure the table, and settle in while everyone else ordered their food.

"So, Emily, what's your favorite ride been so far?"

Emily thought for a few moments before answering happily, "I liked Alice and Wonderland!"

"I liked that one too." Sara answered smiling down at the young girl. Sara kept a hungry Emily entertained for the next few minutes, and finally the food arrived. Nick parked Ava's stroller in between his and Sara's seats, and the Grissoms took the remaining seats. Sara helped Ava out of her stroller to sit next to her, opening up the chicken nugget box. Catherine helped Emily get situated with her chicken nuggets and fries as well before opening up her cheeseburger. Nick and Sara knew Ava well, and were aware she was vying for attention with her little fasting fit. They just got her food ready on the table, not saying a word, and started munching on their own food, making friendly conversation with the Grissoms.

"Momma, can we go swimming at the hotel after this? It's hot." Emily asked as she ate a chicken nugget.

"There's Splash Mountain." Nick answered looking at the map in front of him. "It has a drop though and I don't think Ava is tall enough to go on it." Nick looked down at Ava, and could see that she was still refusing to eat. He really didn't want to deal with a cranky little girl the rest of the day.

"Ava, you need to eat." Nick told her firmly pointing to her food.

"No food. Not hungwy." Ava grumbled, her arms folded across her chest.

"Well, if you don't eat now, you won't have a chance later. You'll go hungry all day." Nick called her bluff.

"Don' want nuggets! Wan burger!" Ava decided, and she grabbed for Nick's burger.

"Ava, no, we bought you nuggets and you're going to eat your nuggets." Sara told her firmly as she pushed Nick's burger farther away from Ava. Then Ava did something she knew caught their attention and embarrassed her parents. She started screaming at the top of her lungs - no words, just a horrible screeching cry. Sara looked around for a moment and saw a few people looking at their table. She hated when Ava misbehaved in public places, and Ava knew it. Nick got up off his chair and picked up Ava from her spot next to Sara, as she screamed bloody murder.

"Excuse us." He said as he started walking away. Nick set her down on the ground on the other side of the building.

"Ava Elizabeth you stop screaming right now. Do you want a spanking?" He asked firmly.

"Nooooo." She sobbed, and tried to tug her arms away from his hands. Ava continued to cry loudly. Nick could feel that her skin was feeling rather warm from the heat. He wished he could just get her to eat and drink a little bit, but she was being so stubborn.

"Ava, you need to eat your nuggets." He told her firmly over her loud cries. Ava didn't respond, but continued to cry. "Ava, you need to stop crying, and eat your food." Nick told her as he tried to ignore her sobs.

"If you don't eat, sometimes you get crabby and fussy. You'll feel better when you eat and drink, I promise." Ava was loving Disneyland, but really wasn't used to being outside for this long. Finally, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Nick, wanting to be comforted. Nick smiled as he heard Ava stop crying and cuddled her into his chest.

"You ready to eat now?" Nick asked her softly. Ava nodded and they walked back over to the table where everyone was making small talk except for Emily who was leaning into her mother. Nick allowed Ava to sit on his lap, and she finally began to nibble on her chicken nuggets.

"Good girl." Sara praised her niece when she was she was eating. "Do you want some Coke?"

"Yes, pwease." She answered.

Everyone was relieved to see that Ava was calming down and getting some much-needed food inside her. The family threw away the trash at the end of the meal, and Sara loaded Ava into the stroller. Her parents could tell she was really tired and strained by her tantrum, and she dozed off on the way to the next ride.

"Maybe we ought to plan the rest of the afternoon." Catherine suggested as they walked to the next ride.

"I think that is a great idea." Sara answered as she pushed the stroller.

"Mom, when can we go on Splash Mountain?" Lindsey asked in a bit of a moany voice. Her parents couldn't blame her, though. She'd been on kiddy rides all morning.

"Well, maybe we should discuss splitting up." Catherine suggested. "I know the guys want to ride the scarier rides, but I'd be fine taking the girls on kiddy rides."

"I wouldn't mind going on the kiddy rides either." Sara agreed with Catherine. "Boys, you're free to go with Lindsey and go on big kids rides." Catherine said laughing as Nick and Grissom high fived. Lindsey was perfectly happy going with the guys - she was starting to get the teenage girl syndrome; in the phase where she couldn't stand her mother sometimes. Not that she liked Gil that much right now either, but Nick was fun to be around as well. Lindsey happily hooked arms with both men on either side of her as they walked quickly to Splash Mountain.

The mothers took the young girls through Toon Town stopping to look at Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse's houses. "Do you want to take the kids to see the parade Sara?" Catherine asked as they walked through Toon Town.

"That sounds good. When's it start, 5:00?" Sara asked, looking around for a sign.

"I'm pretty sure that's when it is. I know the guys would just love to see it too." She joked.

"Yeah, and if the girls haven't collapsed by then." Sara commented. The ladies decided on another ride to take the girls on, and got the girls in line. Ava was still sleeping in her stroller, and Emily was holding her mother's hand.

"So, how are things going with Ava?"

"Well, they don't call it the terrible two's for nothing. Sometimes she'll act up and disobey Nick and I, and other times she can be a little angel. Our toughest time right now is toilet training her." Sara answered. "I couldn't imagine life without her now though."

"Well, I'm glad I didn't have to potty train another one, that's for sure." Catherine commented, stroking Emily's hair. "Lindsey could be terrible sometimes at that age, but it'll pass, as long as you stay consistent." Sara nodded at the advice, hoping she was doing a good enough job with Ava, especially if they were considering another child eventually.

"And how's Emily doing?"

"It's getting better. We had a problem in Wal-Mart the other day. She got separated from Gil and I and it spooked her so she's been a little more clingy than usual. The nightmares haven't been as bad though which is good." Catherine answered smiling.

"Poor thing." Sara commented, looking at Emily lovingly. "But she seems like a really good kid. So well-behaved. You guys are doing a great job."

"She has really never misbehaved with us. Just a few reminders every now and again. She's just a little skittish right now." Catherine said quietly, as they both watched Emily bend down in front of Ava's stroller to get a look at her sleeping friend.

"When's Ava gonna wake up Mommy?" Emily asked curiously not understanding why her friend would want to go to sleep while at Disneyland.

"I don't know, baby. When she sees we're about ready to go on a ride, I'm sure she'll perk up." Catherine reasoned. Emily was getting a little tired of not having a playmate. When her mommy and Sara were talking again, she shook the stroller a little bit. Ava stirred, but didn't fully wake up. Emily sighed and looked back at Sara and her mother. Seeing that they weren't looking she decided to kick the stroller a bit. Out of the corner of her eye, Catherine saw the stroller moving and was surprised to see that her daughter was the cause of it. She walked around just as Ava was starting to cry.

"Emily, did you just kick Ava's stroller?" She asked her daughter calmly. Emily looked a little guilty and nodded her head.

"I want Ava to play." Catherine knelt down in front of Emily so that she was eye level.

"Emily, that wasn't a nice thing to do. What if she woke you up from your nap and you were really tired?"

"I'd be really mad." Emily realized, watching as Sara picked Ava up out of her stroller and held her in her arms.

"That's right. So don't do that again, Emily. When Ava calms down, you need to apologize."

"What's alopogize?"

"It means you say you're sorry for doing something wrong." Catherine explained softly. Emily nodded in understanding.

"I just wanted to play." She said quietly digging the toe of her shoe into the ground.

"I know, sweetheart, but you have to think about other people's feelings. Ava was sleeping, so you shouldn't disturb her." Emily seemed to understand, and she looked a little bit ashamed as she listened to Sara talk softly to a still crying Ava.

"It's alright, Ava. It was almost time to wake up. Look, we're about to get on the ride!" She pointed out excitedly. Through her teary eyes, Ava looked up in wonder at the ride, and quickly stopped moping at her interrupted slumber. Catherine stood up and placed her hands on Emily's shoulders.

"Go say you're sorry to Ava." Catherine whispered firmly. Emily timidly walked up to Sara and tugged on her shorts. Sara looked down and then lowered Ava to the floor, kneeling down with the two girls.

"Ava, I'm sorry I woke you up." Emily said softly.

"Iss otay." Ava immediately accepted. Now that they were about to get on a ride, she quickly forgot the injustice. The girls were soon playing around in line and giggling while they waited the next few minutes. A few moments later they were being loaded on to the Peter Pan ride. They got into a flying ship. It took them through the night and watched as Peter Pan fended off Captain Hook.

Meanwhile, back at Splash Mountain, Nick, Gil, and Lindsey were just getting off the ride, soaked.

"Gil, that was SO much fun, can we go on it again?" She begged her father, shaking his hand as they all laughed.

"Let's go on the Matterhorn before we meet up with the kids." Nick suggested. "The line doesn't look that long."

They got in the line, and though it wasn't that long, it gave them a good time to talk.

"Do you start school soon again, Lindsey?" Nick asked, leaning back on the rail.

"In about three weeks." Lindsey groaned.

"Ohhh..." Nick made a pained face. "What kinds of classes are you taking? Much science?" Lindsey smiled a little at her dad, because they'd had many discussions about the classes she was taking. She was what could be called a slacker somewhat. Lindsey was a very intelligent girl, but never opted to take the more challenging classes.

"The basic stuff; English, History, and Chemistry, along with some electives. Nothing too bad this year." Lindsey answered as they got closer to getting on the ride.

"I'm hoping she'll switch into the AP Chemistry class." Gil commented. Lindsey didn't like to do a lot of work - she'd rather be with friends or on the Internet, but she needed things to help on college applications. Lindsey just rolled her eyes and didn't comment, not wanting to talk about this at Disneyland.

"Does Ava like Las Vegas?" She changed the subject. Nick smiled.

"She likes the fact that it's hot outside and she can go swimming all the time." Gil and Lindsey laughed at that.

"That's why I like going to your house so much." Lindsey said. Summers in Vegas were scorching to say the least, and the Stokes' pool was part of her survival. "Can she swim yet, or does she have to use armbands still?"

"She's slowly getting better at swimming without the armbands, but she still needs to use them. We're hoping by next summer she'll be off the armbands." Nick answered.

"Look we're next!" Lindsey exclaimed pointing to the car they were to get into.

After a long day, the family piled back into the van to the hotel. On the way there, all three girls fell asleep. When they arrived, Nick scooped up Ava in his arms, Catherine carried Emily, and Gil woke up Lindsey. She rubbed her eyes as he unbuckled her seatbelt for her, seeing the girls getting carried away.

"What, I don't get carried?" She joked.

"I don't want back replacement at such a young age." Gil deadpanned. Lindsey laughed as he helped her out of the van. The family quickly got into the elevator and trudged into their separate hotel rooms.

"I'm so tired." Lindsey groaned as she lay out on her bed.

"Just go back to sleep then, sweetheart." Catherine told her. They hadn't eaten dinner yet, but the heat really took the mind off food sometimes. Lindsey snuggled up to her pillow, and soon she was out. Next to her, Emily was sprawled out on her back where her mother had left her, out like a light.


	15. Chapter 15

A couple hours later Emily awoke. The first thing she noticed was that her parents were asleep and so was her sister. Emily was a bit cross because she hadn't eaten and she was hot in the clothes she was wearing. She sat up and started crying, the only thing she knew how to do. It was too dark to get up and wander around, and she was scared. Lindsey stirred next to her, not happy at being awoken.

"Emily, be quiet!" She whispered harshly. Emily wasn't happy at being reprimanded by her sister, so she gave Lindsey a push. Lindsey growled and gave Emily a slight push back which set Emily off. She started crying even louder.

"Momma!" She cried. Catherine was quickly out of her bed, turning on the bedside lamp to see two irritated girls.

"Mom, she pushed me!" Lindsey complained, giving her sister a glare.

"She pushed first!" Emily counter-complained. Catherine sat on the edge of Emily's side and set her on her lap.

"Lindsey, you shouldn't have pushed her to begin with." Catherine reprimanded softly. Lindsey glared at her and turned over in the bed. Catherine sighed and decided to deal with Lindsey later.

"Emily, what's the matter?" She asked stroking Emily's hair softly.

"I'm too hot!" She complained. "And I'm hungry!"

Catherine felt her forehead and could feel heat come off her body.

"Alright, baby. You could just sleep in your underwear. Would that feel better?" Emily nodded her head, and Catherine helped her peel the sweaty clothes she had worn that day off her body. She led her to put on a clean pair of underwear, and then got some graham crackers and juice for her to snack on. Emily sighed as she ate her crackers.

"Emily, why did you push your sister?" Catherine asked softly bending down next to Emily.

"She told me to shut up, and I didn't like it!" Emily reported, munching on her crackers, getting crumbs everywhere. Catherine had assumed that Lindsey went back to sleep, but she slapped her mattress in anger when Emily tried to blame this whole thing on her.

"She woke me up, mom! I need my sleep! You don't have to share a bed with her." Lindsey was sick of seeing her parents go easy on Emily. She was pretty well-behaved, but she never got in trouble because they thought she was too skittish. Catherine sighed and rubbed her forehead with one of her hands.

"Lindsey, it was dark and Emily couldn't see where she was at. She was scared."

"Whatever." Lindsey mumbled angrily, and rested her head back on her pillow. Catherine decided to let Lindsey's attitude go for now, and turned her attention back to Emily. She stroked some sweaty hair away from her forehead and kissed it.

"Are you feeling better now, baby?" Emily nodded her head and finished off her cracker. "Are you ready to go back to sleep?" Catherine asked as she put away the rest of Emily's juice.

"She better not wake me up again." Lindsey complained. Catherine chose to ignore Lindsey again, not giving her the satisfaction of acknowledging her coldness. She tucked Emily under just the sheet this time.

"Good night, sweetheart. We have another big day tomorrow, and you need your rest." Catherine kissed her forehead and got up.

"Love you mommy."

"Love you too." She shut the light off and crawled back into bed with her husband, who had slept like a log through the whole incident. Catherine closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, preparing herself for another long, hot day.

The following morning Sara awoke to the alarm. She saw Nick starting to stir. She yawned and looked over at the other bed. She saw Ava starting to wake up. Ava was always quite a site when she woke up. During the night, she normally ended up facing the other direction in her bed, her hair most definitely in bed-head form. Her angry expression caused Sara to laugh.

"Good morning, Ava." She whispered across the room. Ava glared at her questioningly, as if confused as to why she was waking up. She rubbed her eyes.

"Sara, I pottied." Ava reported.

"It's all right baby. Let's get you changed then. Did you just go pee?" Sara asked getting up from the bed and walked over to Ava's bag to get a Pull Up out as well as another change of clothes so that she could bathe Ava. She figured she would let Nick sleep in a bit more.

"Yes." Ava replied sleepily. Sara went to the bathroom and started a bath for Ava. After getting just the right temperature, she went back and picked Ava up off the bed.

"Finish going potty." Sara instructed her, pulling her Pull Ups and pj bottoms off, and setting her on the toilet. Ava sighed as she did her business. After she was finished Sara helped her take off her shirt and put her in the bath tub.

Meanwhile, next door, Grissom was first up, since he got a good night's rest. Catherine had trouble falling asleep after the girls' argument, and Lindsey and Emily were still exhausted. After getting out of the shower, he watched his wife and two girls sleeping so peacefully, and he almost didn't want to wake them up. He could tell Catherine was beat, so he decided to get Lindsey going.

"Linds, time to get up." He shook her shoulder a little. Lindsey buried her head deeper into her pillow and groaned.

"Go away." She grumbled.

"It's time to get up. You wouldn't want to miss out on Disneyland would you?" Gil asked shaking her shoulder again.

"And ride kiddy rides all day? Can we split up again so I don't have to be with Emily all the time?" Lindsey moaned. Gil sat down on the edge of the bed and glanced at Emily. She was so sweet and loving, and he couldn't understand why Lindsey was getting annoyed with her.

"Linds, is something going on? Why don't you want to be around Emily all of a sudden?"

"Ugh because she freakin' woke up in the middle of the night crying for Mom. She always cries and she's so annoying. She never gets in trouble. I just don't want to be around her." Lindsey grumbled loudly.

"Well, she's been through a lot, Linds. You know that." He rubbed Lindsey's arm supportively. "I want you to get along with Emily. If you need a bit of time away, I'm sure we could work something out. But this is a family vacation. We're here to be together."

"Whatever, I'm going to take a shower." Lindsey groaned. She went to her suitcase and picked out some clothes to wear for the day and went into the bathroom slamming the door shut. The slam immediately startled Catherine and Emily awake. Emily started crying, upset by the sudden noise and not being in her own cozy bed. Gil pulled her out from under the covers and brought her to his lap.

"Ssshhhh...it's okay, Em. The door just shut a little too loud." He comforted her, stroking Emily's back. Catherine was awake now too, so she sat up in bed and went to sit by Gil.

"Lindsey in a bad mood already?" Catherine asked putting her head on Gil's shoulder.

"Yeah, she said Emily woke her up last night, but I didn't hear anything." Gil reported. He slept through about anything. Catherine rolled her eyes at his ability.

"Em woke up crying, and then Lindsey told her to shut up. Emily pushed her, and Lindsey pushed her back. It was a great ordeal. Wish you had been awake to see it."

"I always miss out on all the good stuff." Gil replied rolling his eyes. Emily had since stopped crying and was rubbing her eyes.

"How are you this morning Miss Emily?" Catherine asked smiling as she reached out and tickled Emily's bare stomach.

"I'm tired." She said, laying her head on Gil's chest.

"Well, I'm sure you'll wake up when you get to meet Mickey and Minnie." Catherine told her. Emily shook her head and yawned widely. "Come on let's pick out some clothes for you to wear today so you can take a bath once Lindsey is out of the shower." Catherine suggested trying to get Emily to wake up a bit more.

Lindsey came out of the bathroom ten minutes later, as Emily was finishing off her breakfast. She gave her little sister a glare, and Emily looked a bit terrified. Lindsey wordlessly started to comb out her wet hair.

"Alright, Em, are you ready for your bath?" Catherine asked cheerily. Emily nodded and latched onto her mother's hand as Catherine led her into the bathroom.

"I don't wanna see Lindsey today." Emily whined to Catherine while she was filling up the bathtub with water.

"Why's that?" Catherine asked her, having a good idea as to why. She sat on the edge of the tub and pulled Emily to stand between her legs.

"She's mean to me. I don't like her anymore."

"Lindsey was just cranky because she got woken up. She doesn't like to be woken up. She'll be in a better mood today." Catherine reassured Emily.

"I don't care. I don't wanna be with Lindsey." Emily told Catherine again starting to tear up.

"Ssshhhh..." Catherine pulled her onto her lap. "Don't you worry. I'll talk to Lindsey. Daddy and I will make sure she's not mean to you." She promised the young girl. Emily seemed to calm down a little in her mother's arms. Catherine reached around and turned the water off when it was almost full.

"You ready to get in? I bet you'll feel better." Emily nodded, then stripped off her underwear and let Catherine set her down in the tub.

After Emily's bath Gil and Catherine asked the Stokes' if they could watch her while they had a talk with Lindsey. Sara and Nick quickly agreed and took Emily off their hands. Cath and Gil sat across from a gloomy looking Lindsey on the other bed.

Gil started, "Lindsey, will you explain to me what's going on with you and Emily?"

"Emily is an annoying brat who needs to be disciplined. I can't stand her." Lindsey grumbled evading the question.

"Okay - when has she misbehaved?" Gil asked, not remembering a time when Emily had ever acted up.

"She thinks she can do whatever she wants, and you guys let her. When she's annoying me and I tell her to stop, you yell at me! It's not fair!"

"She hasn't done anything that has warranted us getting upset with her. Annoying you doesn't warrant discipline. Just because you can't handle a four year old doesn't mean that we should get angry with her." Catherine answered firmly.

"I never acted like that." Lindsey crossed her arms. "If she misbehaves, you won't even punish her, because you think she's perfect!" She accused them.

"Lindsey, you most certainly did act like that sometimes. All little kids do. And Emily has different needs than you had."

"This is stupid. I don't want to be around her today and if you make me then I will stay up here in the hotel room."

"Lindsey, don't be ridiculous." Catherine almost pleaded with her. This was supposed to be a nice family vacation, but the girls' behavior was escalating with the stress of long, hot days outside. Lindsey just looked away from her parents, waiting for them to give in and let her stay.

"You're going to come to the park and you're going to get along with your sister. Why you ask? Because I said so and you're going to listen to me." Gil said raising his voice. Lindsey was about to argue back, but a stern look from both her parents shut her up. Lindsey stormed off the bed, tears forming in her eyes. They were being so unfair. If they were going to make her hang around Emily all day, she decided she would just ignore them. She grabbed her mini-backpack and opened the door roughly.

"Fine! Let's go!" Lindsey crossed her arms and waited in the hallway. Gil and Catherine looked at each other and sighed.

They knocked on the Stokes' door and let them know that they were ready to go. The families got their things ready to go and they left the hotel to go to Disneyland. The day had gotten off to a rough start, but at least the girls weren't bickering. Lindsey walked several paces in front of her family, her arms crossed.

"Do you think we should split up for a little while today?" Catherine asked her husband, fearing problems with the girls.

"We'll see how things go. If they start fighting we'll split them up. Let's see how long they can go." Gil answered putting his arm around her shoulders. Catherine nodded and leaned into Gil.

"What should we go on first?" Sara asked as they walked down Main Street.

"Sara, wookit!" Ava pointed excitedly as she spotted the first kiddy ride. She started to stand up in her stroller, so Nick pushed her back down gently.

"Whoa, Ava. Save the energy, kid." He told her, smiling.

"Emily, do you want to ride that?" Catherine asked her daughter, who was holding her hand. Emily nodded and Catherine smiled as the families got in line. Lindsey got in line after being pushed by Gil. When they were line Gil made sure that Emily was away from Lindsey so they wouldn't fight. Ava and Emily started playing happily together again. Their parents had made sure they had a few toys in the stroller to keep them occupied in line. Soon, they were bored with the toys, and opted to start running back and forth between the rails. As they ran past Lindsey, who was messing with her cell phone, Emily accidentally hit Lindsey's elbow causing her to drop her phone.

"You brat!" Lindsey snapped at her, and bent to pick her damaged phone off the floor.

"I'm sorry." Emily immediately apologized.

"No you're not!"

"I am too sorry! I didn't mean to run into you." Emily yelled back. Lindsey reached out to hit her, but was held back by Nick who was standing by her.

"Calm down, Lindsey." Nick said firmly, pulling her a few steps back, keeping a firm grip on her upper arms. Lindsey struggled in his grasp for a moment, and Emily started crying. She made the mistake of looking at her parents and their disappointed and surprised faces. Catherine bent down and picked up Emily who clung to her sobbing.

"Baby, it's okay. You're okay." She whispered to Emily.

"I don't wanna be with Lindsey!" Emily cried.

Lindsey was surprised to feel that Nick was steering her out of line, keeping a firm grip on her left upper arm.

"Ouch, Nick! Let go of me!" She ordered him, but he didn't stop. Gil watched for a moment and decided to follow after them. He was hopeful that Nick could perhaps get through to her, since he and Catherine were at their wits' end trying to mediate the two girls. Nick pushed Lindsey into a bench and both he and Gil stood in front of her. Nick crossed his arms.

"What the hell were you thinking Lindsey?" Nick exclaimed.

"What! She broke my cell phone and I'm getting yelled at?" Lindsey was seething.

"You are fifteen years old, Lindsey! You should know better. She did it on accident and you call her a brat and try to hit her?"

"She is a brat! She never gets in trouble and she gets away with every freakin' thing! I hate her!" Lindsey yelled getting up to face Nick. When she saw the look on his face, she suddenly felt a little intimidated. He stared her down for a few moments.

"Sit down, Lindsey. Now." Lindsey quickly did as he said, and Gil took over.

"Lindsey, how can you expect us to punish her for accidentally running into you?"

"She needs to learn to be more careful! She can't just run around wherever she wants. There are other people in this world."

"She wasn't bothering anyone Lindsey, just you. So, I have no reason to discipline Emily. Grow up Lindsey. The world doesn't revolve around you." Gil told her firmly crossing his arms. "If anyone should be punished, it should be you, but I want to enjoy my vacation. But if you pull something like that anymore, we'll arrange something." He reported firmly. Lindsey was so ticked that she was getting in trouble for something Emily started.

"Keep Emily away from me, and I'll be fine!" Gil and Nick didn't respond, but allowed Lindsey to get up and they walked back into line. When they got into line they saw Emily holding Catherine's hand and sucking her thumb. Gil sighed. The only time she sucked her thumb was when she was truly frightened.

"I hope I wasn't out of line back there." Nick said softly, observing Emily also.

"No, I'm glad you did. Hearing it from a non-parent made a difference, I think." Gil told him truthfully. Nick was beginning to see just how bad sibling rivalry could be.

"Look sweetheart, it's our turn on the ride." Catherine said excitedly to Emily. Catherine tugged on her hand trying to get Emily to perk up, but the damage seemed to have been done.


	16. Chapter 16

For the rest of the morning, Lindsey and Emily managed to stay separated and civil to each other. Emily calmed down, and was happy to have Ava to play with and talk to. Both families finally invested in a pair of mouse ears, the standard souvenir for visiting the park.

A little bit after lunch, though, the sun was starting to get to the little ones again. As they were in line for the next ride they were all thankfully standing underneath the shade. The young girls were getting antsy.

"Momma!" Emily whined pulling on Catherine's hand.

"What's the matter baby?" She asked Emily bending down.

"I gotta go to the bathroom." Emily whispered.

"We just freakin' got into line!" Lindsey complained overhearing her sister. Emily got a little teary eyed at the harshness she met with Lindsey.

"I'll take her." Catherine said, in a warning voice to Lindsey. She grabbed Emily's hand and they headed back to the bathroom. Lindsey crossed her arms, and Gil moved to stand next to her.

"Lindsey, cool it. She's fine." He warned her in a harsh whisper.

"Whatever." Lindsey answered crossing her arms. Gil bit his tongue from saying anything else to her.

Meanwhile in the bathroom as Catherine and Emily were in line.

"Momma, I don't wanna be with Lindsey no more!"

"I know, baby. After this ride, we'll split up for a while, and you'll just be with mommy, Sara and Ava." She told her daughter as she led her into one of the free stalls.

"Why she not like me?"

"She's just in a bad mood." Catherine answered as she helped her daughter on the toilet. "Don't worry about her and just have fun at Disneyland." Catherine wasn't quite sure this would work, but knew the girls needed to get away from each other for the rest of the day.

When they returned, she discussed splitting up with the other adults. They agreed it would be a good idea again. Nick, Gil, and Lindsey went off to go ride adult rides, and Sara and Catherine stayed with the young girls. They decided that they would stop and watch the parade since it seemed Ava and Emily needed a rest. They found a bench off to the side where the girls could see the parade perfectly. The parade seemed to put them in a better mood, and the girls happily pointed all kinds of things out to their mothers. Catherine and Sara just nodded and affirmed how neat everything was, but conserved their energy.

After the parade the girls voiced their hunger and Sara noticed that it was approaching five p.m. Catherine and Sara decided to take the girls to a small cafe near Pirates of the Caribbean. Catherine got a table with the young girls as Sara ordered dinner for them all. The girls were good about eating their food, munching on some fish fingers and fries, as their mothers happily talked. Ava took a bite out of one of her fish fingers and made a disgusted face.

"Ewwww, this taste icky!" She told Emily, and then threw it on the floor. Ava and Emily both cackled, but their mothers didn't notice what it was about. She threw another one, and it hit a little boy that was walking by.

Sara saw that and yelled, "Ava! You don't throw food at people!" Sara quickly apologized to the young boy who ran off to his mother.

"Sowwy." She said meekly, and grinned mischievously. Sara and Catherine went back to talking, but kept a closer eye on the girls. Ava stuck some French fries in both of her nostrils.

"Ava..." Sara warned. "I saw that. Stop it."

Emily giggled as Sara turned away. She reached into her drink and started pulling out ice cubes and threw them at Ava. As she went to grab another one she accidentally knocked over her drink.

"Emily Grissom." Catherine said firmly, getting up from her chair and going over to the now upset child.

"I'm wet! Get it off!" She told her mother.

"I saw you throw that ice cube at Ava. It serves you right to be all wet." Catherine reprimanded as she started wiping her down the best she could with the napkins at the table. Emily whimpered and crossed her arms. Catherine ignored her and tried to clean up the area around Emily's plate.

"I want another shirt!" Emily pleaded, wanting to get out of her soaking clothes.

"Well, we didn't bring another one. You'll have to stay in that the rest of the day." Emily started whimpering and crying, wiping at her eyes. Sara still wasn't very happy with Ava either.

"Ava, you finish eating your fries, and then we're meeting up with Nick." She told her.

"Ice cweam?" Ava asked hopefully. Sara shook her head.

"No ice cream for either of you." She said looking over at Catherine who nodded her head.

"No ice cream tonight."

"Why?" Emily moaned.

"Because you didn't eat your dinner nicely. Little girls who play with their food don't get dessert." Catherine reported firmly, tossing the ruined food and wet napkins onto their tray.

"Ice cweam!" Emily yelled in a voice Catherine had never heard before. Sara and Catherine looked at each other. They were both very surprised that of all kids Emily would yell like that.

Catherine reached over and took Emily by the hand.

"Emily Grissom, stop yelling right now." She said firmly leading her away from the table. Catherine was even more surprised when Emily started to resist her, pulling back on her hand. She supposed she was lucky that Emily had never thrown a tantrum before, but her first one was shocking. Emily was normally such an agreeable and well-behaved child. Perhaps it was the stress of being outside, but Catherine knew she couldn't let Emily get away with this. She finally picked her and carried her away to a private area, Emily crying the whole way. Catherine set her down and kneeled before her. Emily tried to get away from her and pushed her mother's hands away.

"Nooo!" She cried.

"Emily, stop!" She told her firmly, but did not yell. Emily tried to get her arms away from the grasp Catherine had taken from her.

"Do you want to go back home tomorrow? We will leave if you won't behave." Emily shook her head crying.

"I don't wanna leave yet!" Emily stomped her foot as she continued to try and take away her arms from Catherine. Catherine didn't know where this defiant child had come from. It's like she was a totally different child. She literally didn't know what to do. Finally, she picked Emily up and sat her on a nearby bench, though it was less private.

"Emily, calm down and take deep breaths." Emily, though still mad, listened to her mother. After a few moments her crying had turned into sniffles.

"Are you ready to listen to me now?" Catherine asked turning Emily so that she could look at her in the face. Emily looked at her mother and waited for her to start.

"Sometimes, when children don't behave, they don't get to do things they'd like to. Since you threw ice cubes, you don't get to have dessert tonight. Do you understand?" Emily nodded slowly and sighed.

"No ice cream tonight." Emily wiped at her face with the back of her hand.

"That's right." Catherine was glad she was understanding. "But tomorrow, if you are on your best behavior, you can get ice cream after dinner. Will you be a good girl tomorrow?"

"Yes." Emily told her mother, swinging her feet.

"Good girl. I love you baby and I don't want you to be getting in trouble." Catherine told Emily as she pulled her into a tight hug. She didn't care that she got a bit of Coke on her, now that Emily's first tantrum was over. Catherine stood her daughter up, taking her by the hand, and headed back to the table where Sara and Ava were waiting. Sara looked at Catherine and saw her mouth 'Let's go.' Sara nodded in agreement.

The ladies and children met up with Gil, Nick, and Lindsey a short time later. As Gil approached them he noticed that Emily's face was red from crying and her shirt was wet. As he approached Catherine he whispered in her ear.

"Everything okay?"

"Emily just had her first tantrum." Catherine sighed. "They were throwing their food, so we said no dessert, and she got really upset and argumentative." Gil looked over at Emily, who was rubbing at her eyes.

"Emily? Our daughter?"

"Trust me; I was just as surprised as you were. She's okay now, but I have a feeling she's going to be a little off the rest of the night." Catherine answered rubbing the top of Emily's head softly.

"Well, I think the time apart helped Lindsey." Gil figured, seeing Lindsey smiling again. "We'll keep a close eye on them."

A couple paces in front of them, Nick picked up Ava and kissed her chubby cheek. Ava threw her arms around Nick and giggled.

"Nick! Ava miss wou!" She exclaimed.

"I missed you too, baby." Nick told her truthfully, holding her a little tighter. "Were you good for Sara?" He asked her, seeing that Emily had a bad afternoon.

Ava sighed and answered, "I trew food and gots in twouble. But Ava bedder now!" Nick looked at Sara in question and she nodded. Ava had been better since she had a word with her.

"Good. I know you can eat your food like a big girl." He tried to encourage her to be good.

The families decided to head back to the hotel for the night. About ten minutes later the families were back in their separate hotel rooms. They decided to call it a night and just rest. In the Grissom hotel room the family was discussing the events of the day. Emily was being especially quiet because she was still embarrassed of the fact that she had gotten into trouble with her mommy. She was also feeling a little afraid of Gil because she had sometimes been severely hit by men in the homes she had been in. Emily stayed on her bed, and it almost looked like she was cowering.

"What's up with Emily?" Lindsey asked her parents.

"Emily misbehaved this afternoon and got into trouble." Catherine sighed. "Everything is okay now, but she's feeling a little out of it because of what happened."

"Gosh, what did you do? She looks so scared." Lindsey looked over at her sister, and tried to speak quietly.

"I just talked to her and explained why what she did was wrong."

"What did she do?" Lindsey dug.

"Lindsey, you don't need to be nosey. It doesn't concern you." Lindsey rolled her eyes and looked back at Emily assuming that what Emily had done wasn't a big deal.

"Emily! Perk up!" She yelled over to where Emily was seated.

"Go away!" Emily told her firmly, pointing back to her parents.

"Did you get in trouble today?" Lindsey probed to the disappointment of her parents. Emily looked at Lindsey and then to her parents.

She answered softly, "Yes, I was bad today and I got in trouble."

"What did you do, Em?" Lindsey asked, being nice to her for once.

"I throwed ice cubes at Ava and then I yelled at mommy for not giving me ice cream." She told her older sister, not knowing she might use it against her. Lindsey could remember similar circumstances growing up. She thought the world would end when her mother was upset with her. Lindsey knew she would've most definitely got a time-out, or something more severe than a talking-to.

"That's it? All you got was a talking-to?" Lindsey asked raising her voice a tad.

Emily nodded sadly, "And I didn't get ice cream!"

Just then, their parents walked back in from talking to the Stokes in the other room.

"Mom, she throws a major tantrum and talks back to you, and she didn't get punished? See, you do let her get away with everything." She said coldly.

"Lindsey! I talked to her and she understands that what she did was wrong." Catherine exclaimed. "It's been taken care of. It's in the past. Let's move on." She noticed that Emily had moved closer to the corner of the bed. Catherine moved Lindsey towards the other side of the room near the front door.

"Mom, don't you see how unfair this is? Why are you treating her different?"

"Why do you want Emily to get in trouble so badly? Lindsey, she was abused. Being talked to is all she needs right now."

"How long is this whole abused thing going to go on for? Honestly, it's been a month. Get over it." Lindsey whispered harshly to Catherine.

"Lindsey Marie Willows, don't be so horrible!" Catherine spoke sharply, disgusted with the way Lindsey was out to get Emily. Catherine felt like she was out of options - she couldn't send Lindsey to her room or anywhere to cool down. They were all stuck in this tiny hotel room together. Gil heard Catherine raise her voice and looked over to see what was going on.

"What's going on Catherine?" Gil asked coming to stand behind her. He placed his hands onto her shoulders.

"Lindsey has a horrible attitude and I can't deal with this anymore. You take care of it! She is being so horrible to Emily. I can't take it." Catherine told him glaring at Lindsey harshly. Gil could tell Catherine was trying to hold back tears.

"You go be with Emily." Gil told her, kissing her cheek. He turned back to Lindsey, looking her over, obviously discontented. "Let's go take a walk." He told her, turning her around and opening the front door.

Gil looked over his shoulder as he was shutting the door to see Catherine lying down on the bed cuddling with Emily. He shut the door and turned to Lindsey.

"What's going on Lindsey?" They began to walk down the hallway by their hotel room.

"I think you know." Lindsey mumbled, walking as far away from him as possible in the hallway.

"Why do you want Emily to get in trouble?"

"I just want her to be treated like a normal kid! You guys treat her like she's fragile! I'm sick of it! I'm always in trouble!" Lindsey complained.

"I know it's frustrating, but you have to understand that you and Emily are different. She hasn't been misbehaving really until this week, and we're limited in ways we want to discipline her."

"All you do is talk to her, like that really helps." Lindsey grumbled.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Gil allowed her, anxious to hear her parenting ideas as a fifteen year old.

"At least put her in time out for crying out loud." Lindsey turned toward Gil and put her hands on her hips.

"At Disneyland, Lindsey?" He asked, as they reached the end of a hallway with a window overlooking the pool. "You saw how remorseful she was in there after your mother only talked to her and took away dessert. Do you really think a time out would help?"

Lindsey shrugged, "I don't know. I'm just sick of her getting all the special attention in this family."

"Well, sweetheart, she needs lots of support right now. We don't want her being afraid of us and lashing out. Haven't you seen how afraid she is of me even now?" He asked her softly. It broke his heart every time Emily cringed and cowered in his presence.

"She shouldn't be afraid of you. You wouldn't hurt her. Shouldn't she know that by now?" Lindsey asked as she glanced over at Gil.

"Well, when you've been abused in the past, it takes years even for kids to get over that fear. We just have to be patient. She still needs to learn to trust us."

"I've probably made it worse haven't I?" Lindsey moaned putting her head in her hands. Lindsey was becoming slightly aware of her actions that day. Gil brought her into a supportive hug.

"I know you've been frustrated. But don't worry. Mom's in there with her now. Just make sure you think about where Emily's coming from, okay? Can you do that?" He looked her in the eye, asking her to be on their side - Emily's side.

Lindsey sighed and whispered, "I can try and do that." Gil gave her a smile and hugged her again. Lindsey hugged him back and they stood embracing each other for a few moments. They then stepped back and headed back into their hotel room.

When they got into the room they noticed that Emily was still awake and currently laying on her stomach facing away from everyone. Catherine was still lying next to her, rubbing her back. When she saw Lindsey, she at first glared at her for upsetting Emily again, but then could see that Lindsey looked remorseful. Gil's expression showed that he had gotten through to her in some way. Lindsey walked around the bed and knelt down next to where Emily was laying.

"Emily?" She whispered. Emily turned her head away.

"Emily, I'm sorry if I upset you again. I'm going to be nicer from now on."

"You said that before, and you were still mean." Emily sniffled.

"I know Em and that was wrong of me, but I promise I'm going to be nicer to you." Lindsey whispered to her.

"Do you promise promise?" Emily asked, crinkling her little eyebrows.

"I promise promise." Lindsey whispered back. Emily allowed her sister to give her a make-up hug, and for now, and hopefully for a long time, they would get along. A couple days later, it was time for the Stokes and the Grissoms to leave. It had been a great trip for the most part, though they'd certainly had their share of drama. Lindsey managed to tolerate her younger sister, and Ava and Emily got into a minimal amount of mischief the rest of the time. Exhausted, the families were both happy when they each reached their respective houses.


	17. Chapter 17

A week later Ava awoke in her bed. She hurried and got out and ran to Nick and Sara's bedroom. She opened their door and saw they were still sleeping. She hurried up and pulled herself onto their bed. She stood up in the middle of their bed and yelled, "It's my birfday! Wake up!"

Nick and Sara had learned to expect their young daughter at any time, so they were minimally startled to feel her bouncing up and down. Nick was spooning behind his wife, his hand up under her tank top, which he quickly pulled out when he heard Ava. They both wiped at their eyes to find a very excited three year old jumping up and down.

"I'm tree today!!!" Ava yelled again as she continued to jump up and down.

"I thought that meant the end of the terrible twos." Sara mumbled in jest as she sat up in bed. Nick playfully tripped Ava so that she fell forward between him and his wife. Ava giggled as Nick started tickling her tiny body, squirming beneath him.

"Do you know what we do with three year olds around here?" He kidded.

"Give dem pwesents?" Ava asked hopefully. Nick theatrically pretended to think, putting his hand up to his chin, causing Sara to laugh.

"I knew I forgot something, Ava." He reported. "Sara, we forgot to buy Ava a single birthday present, didn't we?"

Ava could tell Nick was just pretending, so she started laughing and tried to tickle him. It ended up feeling like scratching, but he pretended it tickled anyway. After a few more moments of tickling Ava stopped and looked to her parents hopefully.

"Emiwy come over?"

"All your friends will be coming over later." Sara reminded her, pulling the little girl over. Ava sat on her mother's stomach and took hold of her left hand.

"Ava's party?" She asked, twirling Sara's wedding ring around her finger.

"Yep, all for Ava's party. So we should get you bathed and dressed so you can be ready for your party."

"Hurry! Hurry!" Ava urged her parents, climbing off of Sara, and tugging at her to get up. She grabbed Nick's hand too and started pulling, as if her party would come quicker. Sara turned to her husband.

"Baby, I need to go pick up her cake at the store. Can you get her going?"

"Sure, I can get Miss Ava ready for her party. Come on Ava. Bath time." Nick told Ava as he sat up in bed.

Ava climbed onto Nick's back and grabbed hold of his neck and answered, "Weady!"

Sara smiled at the sight of them. They'd been talking a lot lately about whether to have more children or not. The new parents were definitely leaning towards it more now, as Ava's behavior was slowly improving. It was times like this when Sara knew for sure she wanted more children of her own. She slipped on some jeans and t-shirt, pulling her hair into a ponytail. Sara would take a shower later, after running all the errands in the Vegas heat.

Nick told Ava to use the bathroom while he ran the water. Ava did as Nick told her too and when she was finished, Nick set her in the bathtub.

"Huwwy Nick! Party!" Ava exclaimed.

"Ava, your party starts at eleven o'clock. Even if you hurry with your bath, your friends won't come any quicker." Nick explained, putting a few bath toys into the water.

"Ava big girl now?" She wondered out loud, now that she was turning three.

"Yes, Ava is a big girl, so that means Ava needs to listen to Nick." Nick reasoned with her as he got the shampoo out to wash Ava's hair. Ava started to sing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" as she played with one of her toys. Nick got out the cup he used to wet her hair.

"Alright, lean your head back." He told her. Ava scrunched her eyes closed and tilted her head back as Nick poured a couple cups of water over her light brown, wavy hair. When he was finished, she went back to singing as Nick shampooed her hair.

"Nick my daddy now?" Ava asked looking up at Nick curiously. Nick stopped his shampooing and sat down on the bathroom floor, leaning his arms on the tub.

"Well, sweetheart, you're going to be living with me and Sara now. We'll be like your parents. If you want to call us mommy and daddy, that's okay with us."

Ava sat there thoughtfully for a few moments before answering firmly. "Nick, Daddy now."

"Okay, peanut." He smiled, almost getting a little teary eyed. Nick had dreamed for years of one day being called daddy by a precious daughter or son, and now his dream was coming true. He loved Ava and Sara more than anything in this world, and he realized they were now his family. They were a real family. Nick quickly composed himself and finished shampooing.

"Alright, now you need to go underwater to wash it out." Ava nodded happily and stuck her head in the water.

"Pway now?" Ava asked hopefully.

"Almost done, sweetheart. Let me put in your conditioner and then I'll help you get dressed." Ava continued to sing and play in the tub as Nick finished off with her hair and helped wash her body with a washcloth. She eagerly let Nick pull her out of the tub and set her on the mat, throwing a big towel around her. Nick led Ava to her bedroom and set her on her bed.

"What do you want to wear today sweetheart?"

"Pwetty dwess." She pointed to the closet, which Nick opened. He looked over the dresses she had to offer, thinking they were all pretty.

"Which one, birthday girl?" Ava scooted off the bed and walked over to where Nick was standing. Ava reached up and pointed to her green sleeveless sun dress.

"Dat one!" At least she knew what she wanted. Nick was clueless when it came to female fashion. He took the dress off the hanger and fished a pair of fresh underwear out of her dressed. Ava was feeling like a big girl today, since she was turning three, and decided she wanted to try to get dressed by herself.

"No hewp." She told Nick when he kneeled down to help with her underwear. Ava hadn't had an accident in weeks now, so they were letting her go without the Pull Ups.

"Okay." Nick told her, but stayed close by in case she needed help. Ava was all right getting on her underwear but she when she went to put on her dress she started to put it on backwards.

Nick could tell she was reluctant to ask for help, but after trying for a while she said, "Daddy, need hewp." And looked at him hopefully.

"That's alright. Dresses are hard to put on." He told her, taking hold of the fabric and scooching it the other way on her body. Nick helped her with the sleeves, and then zipped up the back.

Ava heard the front door open and the distinct sound of Sara throwing her keys on the counter.

"Momma home!!" Ava exclaimed. She managed to put the cake on the counter before the ball of energy clung to her leg.

"Hey, birthday girl!" She greeted Ava, and then bent down to pick her up, looking over her outfit. "Don't you look pretty today?"

"Ava picked out." She told her mother proudly, looking down at her pretty dress.

"It's very beautiful Ava." Sara told her. Ava leaned over in Sara's arms and looked at her cake.

"Ava's cake?"

"Yes, but we're not eating it until later." Sara told her cautiously, picturing in her mind Ava standing on the chair digging her hands in all by herself. She put Ava down and put the cake up on top of the refrigerator. "Why don't you go play in the living room while me and Nick get things ready? Be careful not to get your dress dirty."

Gil and Catherine were spooning in bed when they heard a thump come from Emily's bedroom.

"Emily's awake." Gil whispered smiling.

"Sounds like it." Catherine smiled, turning around in bed to face her husband. They kissed sweetly for several moments, and heard Emily open her door and go into the restroom. They heard the toilet flush and the sink turn on for a few moments and then shut off. They heard steps bounding toward their bedroom and a tentative knock on their door.

"Come in, Emily!" Catherine called out to her. Emily still didn't feel that comfortable getting on her parents' bed, so she stood at the foot, looking up at her parents.

"Good morning. How'd you sleep, Em?" Gil asked her.

"Good. I'm hungry." She reported, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"What would you like for breakfast sweetheart?" Catherine asked sitting up and holding out her arms for Emily to climb up onto the bed. Emily walked around to her mother's side of the bed and allowed her to pick her up.

"Eggo." She requested softly, snuggling in with her mother.

"That sounds good. I'll have Daddy make it for you." Catherine told her kissing the top of her head. "Sweetheart, you're going to be staying with Daddy today for a couple hours before we go to Ava's birthday party okay?"

Emily looked over at her father a little nervously. She liked her new daddy, but she'd still rather not stay with him alone. She definitely still preferred Catherine.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because Lindsey and I need to go shopping for some school clothes."

"I wanna go with you Mommy." Emily pleaded with her mother. Gil tried not to take it personally, but it did hurt that Emily didn't want to be with him alone. He couldn't blame her though; he knew her trust in men had been faltered by her foster care experience.

"No, you need to stay here. And you'll be getting ready to go to Ava's, remember?" Catherine reminded her, stroking her hair back. Emily seemed to perk up at the reminder.

"Are you coming to Ava's too?" Emily asked quietly.

"Yes, sweetheart. But Lindsey and I need to go out first." Catherine told her, swinging her feet over the bed and standing up, taking Emily with her.

She rested her head on her mother's shoulder as Catherine took her to the kitchen and sat her down on the breakfast stool. Gil followed them out, waking Lindsey up on the way, and came to look face to face at Emily as he stood in the kitchen. Emily wasn't too keen on the idea of staying home with Gil. She folded her arms on the counter and rested her head on them and looked away.

"How many waffles would you like, Em?" Gil asked his daughter, getting them out of the freezer.

"Two." She answered, still resting her head on the counter. Gil could see she wasn't looking too happy, so he tried to make some friendly, calm conversation.

"Are you excited about going to Ava's today?"

"Yes." She answered still not looking up at Gil.

Catherine looked up from where she was making coffee. She walked over to where Emily was sitting and bent her head down until her mouth was even with Emily's ear.

She whispered, "I want you to behave for your daddy while I'm gone. Understand?"

"Yes." She answered a little harshly. Catherine had to discipline Emily for the first time when they were in Disneyland, and she hadn't misbehaved since. They were more concerned with her self-confidence, but Catherine could tell she was irritable today.

"Good." She kissed Emily's head and went off to hurry Lindsey along.

Breakfast was a quiet affair in the Grissom house that morning. Emily's bad mood could be noticed by everyone in the house. She was pushing around her breakfast and when she did eat she would jab her fork into the waffle. Soon, Catherine and Lindsey left on their shopping trip, leaving Gil and Emily alone in the house. He picked up her plate and put it in the dishwasher as Emily climbed down from the stool.

"Emily, why don't you go play in your room a little while, and I'm going to clean up in the kitchen."

Emily didn't answer, just walked up the stairs and up to her room, shutting the door. The four year old dumped her Barbie dolls on the floor and started sifting through; trying to find the ones she wanted to play with.

Gil went up to Emily's room about fifteen minutes later to get Emily ready for Ava's party. The first thing he noticed were all the Barbies everywhere.

"Baby, we need to start getting ready for Ava's party." Gil said, looking around the room. "But first you need to clean up the mess in here." He told her, wondering how she'd acquired so many Barbies in such a short period of time.

"No." Emily answered as she continued to play with her Barbies. Gil opened his mouth and shut it. He didn't expect that answer. He wanted Catherine right now. Emily had never argued with him before. Gil decided to talk to her calmly as he kneeled down next to where she was playing.

"Emily, when I ask you to do something, you need to do it. We won't be going to Ava's house until this mess is cleaned up." He said, trying to sound firm. Emily blatantly ignored him and continued to play with her Barbies. Gil took the Barbie she was playing with out of her hands, and Emily immediately shouted, "No!" and started grabbing for it.

"Emily, do you want to go to Ava's party or not?"

"I want my Barbie!" Emily shouted grabbing for her doll and in the process stepping on Gil.

"Emily, do you want a time out?" He asked her seriously, ignoring the slight pain in his foot.

"Nooooo!" She whined, but wasn't ready to stop playing with her Barbies. Gil had never disciplined Emily. He still wasn't comfortable disciplining Lindsey, and he'd known her for years.

"I'm going to count to three, and if you're not picking up your Barbies, you will be sitting in time out."

"One..." Emily crossed her arms and looked at Gil. She looked as if she were challenging him. "Two..." Gil continued to count. It was the last thing Gil wanted to do, but he said three, and then started moving towards Emily. She screamed and threw one of her Barbies at him, hitting him on the knee.

"Emily Grissom, you do not throw things." He said sternly, picking her up. Emily started crying as her father sat her on her bed.

"I want Mommy!" Emily cried loudly and tried to move off of her bed. Gil tried to keep calm, but he ended up having to be quite firm with the little girl.

"Stay on your bed, Emily, or you'll be in time out longer." He told her, sitting her back in the middle of the bed. Gil held her in place for a few moments until she stopped fighting with him, and started crying.

"Five minutes, Emily. Stay on your bed." Emily pushed him away as she continued to cry. She laid down on her stomach and cried into the comforter of her bed. It broke Gil's heart to see her upset, but he couldn't let her get away with refusing to do what he said and throwing something at him. He left the room, but kept the door open, so he could check to make sure she was staying put, and went back to clean in the kitchen.

Gil watched the clock in the kitchen and at the five minute mark he went back into Emily's room. She was still crying when he went into the room. He sat down on the bed, but not close as to give Emily room. Though she was mad and didn't want to talk to him, Emily peeked out from under her hair to look at him.

"Okay, Emily. Your time out is over now." Gil told her, and she slowly rolled over so she lay on her back. "Do you know why you got a time out?"

Emily shrugged and didn't answer Gil. She avoided eye contact with him as well, which let Gil know that she did know why she got a time out.

"You refused to do what I asked, and then you threw a Barbie at me. That's not how we solve our problems around here." Gil patiently explained, trying to get through to his daughter. Emily had never exhibited this behavior before, and Gil didn't know why she'd tried it all of a sudden.

"I don't like picking up toys."

"Well, sweetheart, when I tell you to do something, you're to obey me. I don't like to mow the lawn, but your mommy makes me do it still. Your room needs to be clean before we go to Ava's party." Gil explained to her calmly. Emily didn't see any way out of it, so she sighed loudly and got up off her bed. She found the tub that she kept her Barbies in and started throwing them in angrily.

"Emily, do it nicely." Gil told her, getting up and kneeling next to her. "Your dolls are so pretty, and we want to make sure they last, so don't throw them."

Emily glared at him and tossed them in the tub one by one as if to prolong it.

"What do you want to wear today?" Gil asked standing up from the bed and walking to her closet. Emily pointed to a pretty blue dress hanging in her closet, wanting to look pretty for the party, and Gil got it down and handed it to her.

"Uncle Nick and Aunt Sara told us to all bring our swimsuits, so let's put that on underneath, okay?" Gil wasn't sure if Emily would need any help getting it on, and Catherine wouldn't be here to help this time. He hoped Emily wouldn't be uncomfortable. He got out her swim suit from the dresser and put it aside on the bed.

"I'll be outside the door okay Emily? If you need help let me know."

Emily shook her head and answered harshly. "I can do it."

Ten minutes later, Emily still hadn't come out of her room, so Gil decided to check on her. He knocked on her door and called her name.

"Do you need any help, sweetheart?" Emily didn't answer to begin with and stumbled around, trying to figure out how to get the arm straps on. "Em?" He called when she didn't answer.

"I can't get it, daddy." She reported sadly.

"Okay bug, I'm going to come in okay?" Gil asked.

"Okay." Emily answered quietly. When Gil walked in he noticed that Emily had been trying to put on her bathing suit, but had instead been putting it on backwards. He was going to have to undress her and then dress her. He hoped that she wouldn't be freaked out.

"Sweetheart, I think you put it on backwards." He informed her, kneeling down in front of her. "Can I help you put it on the right way?"

Emily looked a little nervous at the prospect of undressing in front of Gil, and he sensed her reluctance.

"I promise it won't hurt. I'm just going to help you." Gil tried to reassure her.

"Don't look." She told him.

Gil paused a moment and thought of what to say. "Well, sweetheart, if I'm helping you, I will see your body, but I won't touch anything but your arms and hands. Understand?"

"I want Mommy to help me." Emily whined as she folded her arms across her chest as if to protect herself.

"Sweetheart, mommy's not here, and she won't be back until right before we leave. We need to get changed now." Gil supposed Emily could change at the Stokes', but he also thought it would be good for them to get this hurdle out of the way. He didn't want Emily to be afraid of him.

"Okay." Emily said reluctantly. Emily was fine with Gil taking off her bathing suit until Gil got to her lower body.

"No more." Emily yelled. Gil stopped.

"Emily, why don't you want me to take your suit off? Why are you scared?" He asked gently of the girl standing before him looking frightened. Emily's eyes welled up with tears a little.

"At my old house the boys came in my room when I changed, and they...they laughed at me and said mean things."

"Sweetheart, that was mean of them and I promise I won't laugh or say mean things to you." Gil told her gently. "I promise I won't hurt you."

"You promise?" She checked again, looking straight at him. Gil kissed her forehead.

"I promise." He reassured her. Emily let her arms fall back to her sides and Gil took hold of the fabric again, slowly pulling it the rest of the way down her body and her legs. Emily instinctively put her hands in front of her while Gil flipped the suit the other way around. Gil didn't say anything, but instead helped her put her legs in the swim suit. He gently worked the bathing suit up the rest of her body. Emily put her hands on his shoulders to balance until she was steady. She calmed down when the suit was back over her bottom, and even more when the straps were finally over her shoulders.

"There, all done." Gil said, trying to make her see it wasn't a big deal.

"Thank you, daddy." She said softly.

"You're welcome sweetheart." Gil answered offering a gentle smile. "Do you want me to help you put on your dress too?"

"Yes, please." She requested. Gil helped her step into her dress and zip the back up, commenting on how beautiful she looked. As they finished, they both heard the garage door open. Lindsey and Catherine were back from their shopping trip.

Emily had heard the garage door open and ran down the stairs to greet her mother. When she reached her mother she saw that her hands were grasping quite a few bags and Emily made an almost argumentative sound at not being able to be picked up.

"Just a minute, Em." Catherine told her as she struggled with a few bags and her purse. She was finally able to put them down on the floor and then picked up Emily. Catherine didn't know what it was, but she seemed a little cranky today and rather clingy to her. Emily hugged her mother tight and rested her head on her shoulder.

"I like your dress. Everyone will think you're so pretty at the party!" She cooed.

"Thank you Momma." Emily answered softly.

"Did you behave for Daddy?" Catherine asked, wondering if that had to do with the way Emily was acting with her. Gil was just coming down the stairs and saw Emily already in her mother's arms. He decided to help Lindsey with the bags.

"Daddy made me clean up my room!" She reported, still annoyed that he'd forced her to do this.

"Did he? Did you do what he asked?" Emily didn't answer right away so Catherine asked again. "Emily did you do what Daddy asked?"

Emily was by no means a badly behaved child, and she didn't like to lie to her mother.

"I told him no, and daddy gave me a time out." She told her mother, playing with her necklace. Emily knew what she did was wrong, but still didn't like what Gil made her do.

"Em, you know you're supposed to do what Daddy and I tell you to do even if you don't like it." Catherine reprimanded Emily gently. Emily didn't answer as she continued to play with the necklace. Catherine had a feeling this was going to be a tougher day with Emily. She set Emily down and told her to go play in the living room, which she did. Emily was just glad her mommy was home, and as long as she was nearby now, she would be okay. Catherine turned back to her older daughter, who was showing Gil some of her purchases.

"Those all look very nice, Lindsey." Gil told his daughter. They'd learned that letting her shop with friends was sometimes a recipe for disaster, and she'd come back with revealing and inappropriate items. Shopping with Catherine guaranteed the purchase of wearable items.

"Lindsey, can I talk to your father for a moment?"

"Sure, mom. Thanks for the clothes." She said, gathering them all up and heading upstairs.

"You had to give Emily a time out I hear. What was all that about?"

"Well she refused to clean up her room and then she threw a Barbie doll at me, so I gave her a time out. She deserved it Catherine." Gil told her shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Sounds like it. She seems cranky today." Catherine said. "Have you ever given her a time out before?" She wondered, not remembering him having to do such a thing.

"No, that was the first time. Haven't you only given her one?" He asked his wife. Catherine shook her head.

"I had to reprimand her at Disneyland, but I didn't give her a time out. I just didn't let her have ice cream."

"She's definitely not bad. But I wonder why she's been cranky all of a sudden. Do you think she's just testing the waters?" Gil wondered, not knowing how little kids really acted. He'd missed this stage with Lindsey, and could only imagine how temperamental she got.

"I think she is beginning to finally trust us so she is starting to act like a normal four year old and a normal four year old unfortunately throws fits and argues." Gil smiled meekly, dreading the tantrums and fits ahead. "And so we need to make sure we're consistent." Gil decided.

"Which means that our choice of discipline is a time out. Hopefully she won't need another one today." Catherine replied sighing. "We need to get going to the Stokes' house."

"She's already in her bathing suit. That was a little bit of a trial." Gil told her, as they started to head up the stairs to get a few things. "She seemed really uneasy about me helping her change, but she let me in the end."

"I'm glad she let you change her otherwise we would be really running late." Catherine said as she went into the bathroom to grab some sun tan lotion.

"Lindsey! Are you ready to go?" She yelled before turning her attention back to Gil.

"Almost." She called from her bedroom, as she finished pulling one of her new tops on.

"And you better not be wearing that suit you were in last time." Catherine warned her, remembering that fiasco.

"Chill Mom, I'm wearing the one we bought last month together." Lindsey answered rolling her eyes from where she was standing in front of her mirror. Catherine decided to ignore the eye rolling for now, not wanting it to escalate any more. Catherine and Gil quickly changed into their own swim suits and put the needed clothing on over top. Within five minutes, the family was ready to head over.


	18. Chapter 18

Author's Note: This is the last chapter for this story, but don't worry there is a sequel! It just needs to be edited! Thanks for reading!

The doorbell rang at the Stokes' home and Ava squealed with delight. She tugged on Nick's hand to come with her to answer the door. Nick helped her pull the door loose and they found a couple of Ava's playmates from the park with a mommy or daddy in tow.

"Hewwo!" She greeted them excitedly, pulling the door back all the way. "Wight this way!"

The young kids giggled excitedly as they ran through the house and into the backyard where Ava's outside toys were. Nick introduced himself to the parents and Sara soon joined them from preparing the dining room table for a bunch of two and three year olds. They set the presents on a table in the living room to open later. Nick went outside with the two parents to watch the kids while Sara stayed inside to answer the door.

A few moments later the Grissoms arrived. Catherine got out of the passenger seat and helped Emily out of her booster seat. Lindsey grabbed the present and soon the family was walking up the pathway to the front door. Sara greeted them and invited them all into the backyard. All the kids were running around the backyard playing chase, and Emily quickly joined them, far from the timid, unsure four year old that came here a few weeks ago. Catherine stayed in the house to help Sara with the dining room set up and with the food while Grissom went outside with Nick and the rest of the parents.

"Ava, did you get anything for your birthday yet?" Emily asked her excitedly. Birthday parties were always so much fun to go to.

"No, I got nuffin yet." Ava reported, as they talked near a tree.

"There's lots of presents in your house!" Emily exclaimed.

"Reawwy?" She asked excitedly. Ava had been so excited about seeing all her friends that she didn't even notice the presents being brought in for her.

"You should try to guess what they are!" Emily suggested.

"Wet's go!" Ava exclaimed grabbing Emily's hand as they ran to go into the house. They were quickly stopped by Nick who grabbed hold of Ava's hand.

"Where do you think you're going, little lady?" He asked her, pulling her into his lap and giving her a big kiss and a tickle.

Ava giggled, "I forgot to wook at presents."

"Well, you'll get to open them later. Do you think your friends are ready to swim?" Ava and Emily nodded their heads excitedly.

"Swim!" They exclaimed. Four little girls were then assisted by their parents at stripping off their clothing, all with their swimming suits on, ready to go. They were barely able to hold them back long enough to put on lotion and armbands before they jumped in excitedly.

While the girls played in the pool Gil and Nick started the barbeque.

"Ava seems pretty excited." Gil commented, forking some hot dogs over to Nick on a plate.

"Yeah, she's barely been able to contain herself." Nick smiled, looking back at his daughter in the pool, and noticing Lindsey in there now too, playing with the girls. "Lindsey been better lately?"

"Oh yeah Lindsey's doing great. She hasn't had much of an attitude and she's been listening to Catherine and I. Unfortunately I think she rubbed off on Emily. I gave Emily her first time out this morning."

"Really? She's been living with you guys for over a month, hasn't she, and today was the first time? We had to give Ava a time out the first day, I think." Nick smiled at the difference in the two girls.

Gil laughed. "Yeah, today was the first time. We're hoping it won't become a normal activity at our house."

"Yeah, unfortunately it's become pretty normal at ours." Nick shook his head. "I'm sure Emily will do just fine. She's just testing the waters."

"That's what Catherine said this morning." Gil took a sip of his Pepsi. He turned to watch the kids in the pool and smiled as he saw Emily on Lindsey's back. He was glad they were getting along.

"Listen, don't tell Cath or Sara I mentioned this." Nick started, taking his voice down lower and checking if either were nearby. "Sara and I were thinking about having a kid of our own."

"Wow, congratulations. You guys have done a great job raising Ava. It's about time you have one of your own." Gil said turning around and clamping a hand on Nick's shoulder.

"Thanks, man. We haven't started trying yet. We were going to wait until Ava gets just a little older and more adjusted to us. Have you guys thought about having one together?" Nick asked. Gil seemed like such an admirable man to Nick, first becoming a stepfather to Lindsey, and now adopting one that had been in foster care. Gil shook his head.

"I think we're done having kids so to speak. We have our hands full with Lindsey and Emily right now." Gil answered shrugging. He'd, of course be thrilled if Catherine ever became pregnant with his child, but his heart was full with the two girls already in his life. He loved them like his own, even if the DNA didn't say so. Sara and Catherine came outside along with two more little girls and their parents. Everyone was here now, and the parents would just let the kids play in the pool for a while and burn off some energy.

About an hour later the adults could see the kids were getting tired of being in the pool so they announced that it was lunch time. Having exerted even more energy now, Emily was definitely looking tired. Catherine plucked her out of the pool and helped remove her armbands and dry off.

"Momma, I wanna swim more!" She complained.

"Baby, it's lunch time. You need to eat." Catherine replied as she continued to dry off Emily. Emily whimpered and crossed her arms. Her mother picked her up, still wrapped in her towel, as all the parents took the girls inside to change out of their swimsuits. Since Catherine was with her now, she would help change her this time. Sara and Nick let her use Ava's room. Catherine began to help Emily take off her swim suit. Emily of course, was not being helpful. She managed to get one arm out before Emily's protesting got to be too much.

"Emily, why are you whining?" Catherine asked her straight up, grabbing her sides.

"I wanna swim after lunch. I don't wanna change!" Emily whined to Catherine.

"Well, this is Ava's party, and Uncle Nick and Aunt Sara have planned things for us to do. Since we're at their house, we do what they say. Understand?"

Emily pouted again and crossed her arms.

"Emily, if you don't change your attitude, you'll just have to sit out while everyone else has fun." Emily sighed and dropped her arms to her sides. She groaned as her mother got her other arm out of her bathing suit. She stood still and let her mother do all the work, not wanting to help at all. After a few minutes, Catherine had Emily all dressed in her regular clothes again. She took Emily's hand and led her into the living room where everyone else was.

"Since lunch is going to be a few more minutes we thought we would let Ava open a couple of presents." Nick announced.

"Yay!" Ava yelled, running over to where Nick stood by the presents.

"Which one do you want to open?" Nick asked, picking her up so she could look. Predictably, she picked the biggest one, which happened to be from Emily. Nick let Ava down so that she could open up the gift. She tore apart the wrapping paper and squealed when she got a look at what it was. It was a remote controlled Barbie car. Ava screeched in delight again as she saw the box.

"Barbie! Barbie!" She squealed, pointing at the box.

"That's right. It's a Barbie car." Nick told her. "What do you say to the Grissoms?" He reminded her.

"Fank you!"

"You're welcome Ava." The Grissoms responded in unison. As Ava opened her next gift, Emily tugged on her mother's hand.

"I want a Barbie car too Momma!"

"That one's for Ava. You have enough Barbie things." Catherine told her. She was surprised to see that Emily had crossed her arms and looked irritated once again. Catherine didn't know what had gotten into her today.

"I wanted it. It's my car." She muttered angrily. Catherine knelt down beside Emily.

"Sweetheart, I really suggest you change your attitude." She whispered to Emily firmly. Gil caught the interaction out of the corner of his eye and was surprised to see that Emily still had a bad attitude. He went over to where Emily was standing next to his wife.

"Is Em doing okay, or do I need to have a word with her?"

"She is just choosing to have a bad attitude and if she doesn't change it then she is going to sit out during all the fun games that Aunt Sara and Uncle Nick have planned." Catherine answered looking directly at Emily. Catherine's reminder seemed to work for now, and Emily straightened up. Ava opened one more present before Sara announced the table was ready for lunch time. Afterwards would be the cake and ice cream.

The parents all helped their daughters into a seat and filled their plates with requested foods. Then, the parents each got their own plate and gathered in the kitchen where they could still see the children.

As the girls sat outside Emily was getting agitated. She didn't know what was wrong, but everything was making her mad. Truth me told, she just wanted to cry. She was sitting at the opposite side as Ava, and didn't really know any of the other girls that well, and her family was all off talking to other people. Her hair was wet and drippy; she just wanted to swim; and she wanted that darn Barbie car. Finally, Emily put her hot dog down and climbed out of her chair. Ava noticed that Emily left the table, but didn't follow her because she was having too much fun with her other friends. Emily checked to make sure the adults weren't looking and she ran into the living room. She'd helped pick out the Barbie car herself, and desperately wanted to play with it. Emily didn't see why she wasn't allowed, and started to rip the box open with as little noise as possible. She kept looking up to make sure no one was coming. Finally, she had the car out of the box. It didn't have any batteries in it, but it was still fun.

Catherine walked over to the sink to wash out her glass when she noticed that Emily wasn't sitting where she was supposed to be.

"Gil, where's Emily?" She asked her husband, who had been joking around with Nick.

"Isn't she outside?" He asked her, poking his head around to look at where the kids were sitting. Gil was surprised to see her chair empty. Catherine went outside to look for her and Gil started walking through the house. Gil soon found her in the living room playing with Ava's birthday gift.

"Emily..." Gil started. Emily flinched and tried to hide the car she was playing with, knitting her eyebrows in defiance. "I saw what you were playing with, Em. That's not your car. Why did you take it out of the box if it wasn't yours?" He knelt down in front of her.

"I wanted to play with it." Emily answered folding her arms across her chest.

"We don't take things that aren't ours. And I know mommy said you couldn't have it, Emily, so that was very bad." Gil said, reaching for the car that Emily held behind her back. Emily kept a firm grip on it, but Gil easily pried it from her fingers and set it high on the bookcase. She started crying now that her toy was gone.

"We need to go have a talk." Gil announced, picking up the crying girl and taking her into Ava's bedroom.

"I want Mommy!" Emily cried when they got into Ava's room. Now she thought of Gil as the one who would discipline her, and not Catherine. Emily thought that if her mommy was with her, she wouldn't get in trouble, and wanted out of this situation.

"Mommy would not be happy with you either that you took Ava's car." Gil explained, sitting her on Ava's vanity seat, putting his hands on either side of her. Emily attempted to get away from him by first pulling at his arms to let her get out, and when that didn't work she resorted to kicking. Emily attempted to get away from him by first pulling at his arms to let her get out, and when that didn't work she resorted to kicking.

"Emily, stop!" He told her firmly, but stopped short of yelling, not wanting to scare her. Gil took hold of her legs to stop her kicking.

"I am not very happy with your behavior right now, Emily Gabrielle. You need to sit in time out for five minutes. If you can behave, then you can go back to the party."

"I want Mommy! You're mean!" Emily yelled and pushed at her father.

Catherine had since found out that Gil had taken Emily upstairs because she was misbehaving, and she soon found them in Ava's room. Emily was pushing at Gil when she came in, and could see her husband was getting frustrated.

"Emily!" Catherine called angrily from the doorway, shutting the door firmly behind her. "Stop that this instant!" She ordered her, raising her voice a little.

Emily stopped pushing at the sound of her mother's angry voice. She started to cry at the thought of her mother being angry with her. Gil stepped back and stood up, glad that he had support now. Catherine stood by Gil and put her hands on her hips as Gil crossed his.

"Emily, we are this close to taking you home and just sitting you in your room for the rest of the afternoon. Is that what you want?" Catherine spoke harshly. Emily looked down at her feet, disappointed in herself. She hated when her mommy was angry at her.

"Nooooo." She moaned, crying a little bit.

"Then I really suggest you change your attitude and start behaving. I'm disappointed in you Emily." Catherine reprimanded. Emily looked disappointed in herself, and upset that her mother was so mad. "Did daddy put you in time out?" She asked her, lowering her voice a little bit.

"Yes." She pouted.

"Good. When your time out's over and you're ready to behave, you can come back downstairs. If not, we'll go home." Catherine gave her an ultimatum. Emily didn't respond, but continued to cry. Gil and Catherine left her in the room and shut the door.

"What is wrong with her today?" Gil asked.

"I don't know." Catherine put her arms around him as they listened to their daughter cry. "I hate having to do this, Gil." She told him.

"I do too baby. Hopefully the time out will help and she'll be in a better mood." Gil offered. They sat down on the floor outside Ava's room, Gil putting his arm around his wife as they waited five minutes. Emily's crying slowly died down after a few minutes until she was completely silent. At the end of five minutes, the two parents went back inside. Emily had a red face from crying, but she didn't look angry any more.

"Did you think about what you did?" Catherine began. Emily nodded and started to tear up. Catherine picked her up and sat down on the vanity, pulling Emily onto her lap.

"We had to put you in time out because you misbehaved. We're not mad at you, but we don't like it when you behave like that." She explained patiently. Gil knelt down beside Catherine so he could be closer to Emily. Emily flinched slightly she saw him come closer. He put his hand on her knee and patted it, letting her know he wasn't going to hurt her.

"We love you, Emily. Are you ready to be a good girl now?" Gil asked her hopefully.

"I'm sorry!" Emily exclaimed tearfully. She choked back a sob.

"I'm glad, sweetheart. I know you won't take someone else's toy again." Gil told her. He was pleasantly surprised when Emily held out her arms, wanting for him to pick her up. Gil smiled a little at Catherine and gladly took his daughter into his arms, standing up and holding her close.

"I love you so much." He whispered into her ear, and then kissed her crown. Gil and Catherine were both happy to have passed another hurdle with Emily. They waited for Emily to compose herself and soon the family found themselves joining the rest of the kids and their parents outside. Gil sat her back down in her seat and all the parents smiled at Gil and Catherine, knowing all too well that sometimes parents had to take care of business with their kids. Nick passed them each a birthday hat just in time to see Sara coming outside with the birthday cake. They all started singing. Gil and Catherine put their arms around each other, pulling each other tight as Sara placed the cake in front of Ava, her eyes wide, loving the sound of everyone singing to her. Nick put his arm around Sara also as they all sang, and they couldn't help but realize that this is how things were meant to be. They were a family.


End file.
